Manuals are traditionally (not always though) less elaborate with these products, when they expect (maybe unjustified) a certain level of prior knowledge from the intended users.
Bart, I would agree with that for the most part, but at the same time, an experienced photographer should not have to reverse engineer a product in order to find out what it's doing. There has to be some middle ground.
For example, does C1 apply output sharpening when exporting to disk? The answer is yes, but you won't find that in the manual. At best, you find an option in the export dialog that allows you to disable sharpening, but it is not clear whether that refers to creative sharpening or to output sharpening. Shouldn't this be documented?
I think the fact of the matter is that writing good documentation is very difficult to do. In addition, many (or perhaps most) users don't read the documentation, so many companies are reluctant to take on the task producing proper documentation. It's a trend that has been going on for years. It is this trend that I lament.
On the other hand, there are other resources out there that are extremely helpful, this forum included. And Bart, I have seen many of your posts in these forums and feel that I have learned quite a bit from them. Thank you.