There is a move in technical writing today toward a personalized, `user-friendly' writing style which is strikingly evident in many computer textbooks and instructional manuals. The author presents the results of a study to determine which style of writing people prefer in a computer tutorial, given the choice between formal, moderately friendly, and extremely friendly texts, and whether their level of computer expertise affects their selection.

Traditionally, technical writing has been characterized by impersonal, mechanical, objective prose. However, this attempt to deanthropomorphize reality must ultimately fail because science cannot escape metaphorical language. There is a move in technical writing today toward a personalized, sometimes called “friendly,” writing style which is strikingly evident in many computer textbooks and instructional manuals.