Teach your Eee’s OpenOffice to spell in Australian

OpenOffice offers a fine word processor for users of the ever-popular Eee PC, but sadly the default shipping OS doesn’t offer any spell checker at all, let alone an Australian one. Fix that problem by following these steps.

* Make sure your machine is connected to the Internet, either
wirelessly, via cable or using a broadband modem.
* Launch OpenOffice (found as Documents on the Work tab of the main launcher).
* Select the File menu, and pick File –> Wizards –> Install new
dictionaries (the bottom option). This will launch a read-only document
to install the DicOOo dictionary package.
* Click on the link for English on the second page.
* Click the StartDicOOo button, which will launch a download wizard.
Click Next to begin. On the following screen, click Retrieve the list
to download a list of languages. This process can take some time, so be
patient (and don’t perform any other tasks, this can send the Eee into
a temperamental lockdown). If the system requests an upgrade, say no
for the time being.
* When the dictionary list appears, select English (Australia) (it’s in the first screen).
* Repeat the process to select a hyphenation and thesaurus dictionary
(not essential, but useful for ensuring intelligent word breaks and
useful word lists).
* After clicking Next, OpenOffice will begin downloading dictionaries
and installing them. This can take some time and again it’s best not to
interrupt.
* Once the dictionaries have downloaded, click Finish, then exit Open Office and restart.
* Set Australian English as your default language by choosing Tools
–> Options –> Language settings –>Languages and selecting
English (Australia). In the Writing aids tab, select all three
available language modules (the shipping version doesn’t have any), and
you should be good to go.