Hello!
On Sat, Aug 31, 2013 at 6:40 PM, john Culleton
Just fyi TeXlive when installed on Windows also loads a program submenu, and one of the entries there is texworks. So I can pretty much insulate my users from dreaded (by some) command line. That was the reason for my original question.
If your users are what I call "an average Windows user", I'd go for TeXLive, assuming the ConteXt there doesn't have some known *major* flaw in the basic functions. I must admit for my part that I update my work ConTeXt - i.e. the one in Windows - only every 3-6 months; I just can't be bothered without a good reason... A complete beginner won't need any of the newest features, a slightly outdated version ConTeXt will do fine for teaching the basics. I've thought that one of the main ideas with TeXLive is to make life easier for those who don't like spending time tweaking their computer or just don't have the knowledge required. As the easier option exists, why not take it. :-) TeXworks may not be the world's most advanced editor, but good enough with highlighting and it allows doing everything by clicking as opposed to using the unfamiliar command line interface. And frankly, TeXWorks looks more like "Windows" than SciTe, so it is probably a better choice anyway. On my Mac I prefer TeXShop to TeXWorks, but the latter is good enough. Besides, I've been using ConTeXt for a long time, so I know what I like - beginners will take whatever you give them and make do. The main thing is to make a choice and stick to it, to avoid additional confusion. BTW, I'm working on (or this far, thinking hard about) some material for a *complete* beginner (coming from the world of WYSIWYG) and also on some on teaching ConTeXt to non-techies, which will be subject of my talk at this year's ConTeXt meeting. I'll be happy to share all my material, if it helps! Regards, Mari (who may have to update to get access to the newest SciTe features - I'm still trying to make up my mind about whether I want them badly enough to take the risk...)