The file that was being sent to her was from a
very old version of word that professor hoffman is
evidently still using. By adding the .doc file
extension to the file they were sent they were
able to open it yesterday.

The main problem was that firefox was set by
default to save everything to the desktop without
prompting for location. I changed this to ask for
location every time.

Also, the "open" option didn't have any
applications associated with it. i associated .doc
with word and .xls with excel to help her out with
this. Shouldn't word automatically be set to open
doc files once it's installed?

Anyhow, problem's solved. closing ticket.

I'll go see her tomorrow morning.

She is gone after 11:30, someone should look at 
this in the morning.