Well, while I really like the concept of this software, these relatively minor glitches upon starting it up the first time appear enough like bugs (and perhaps are fast enough to remedy) that in my view it could be worth a quick fix at some point.
In fact, I think there may be a bug or two as well. For instance, when I go to the Item Definition Editor, it allows me to add new items without opening a file. Those new items are then invisible in that editor, but appear as "New Item" in the main software screen.
I also get nothing when I click on "Check for Updates Now" which combined with the above led me to believe that perhaps the software wasn't working quite right.
I was able to edit the XML file for the items which convinced me the software was working well enough -- so I continued playing with it.
I think perhaps something as simple as by default loading a new user-defined file in the definitions editor rather than a blank screen there might make it more intuitive for the first time user.
Or alternatively, making the initial definitions file customizable. Right now on this Vista machine that file is in the Program Files directory and thus essentially intended to be read-only. (Part of that confusion lies with Windows itself, but I wonder whether a couple of minor modifications to the setup might make this smoother.)
But overall, nothing major, certainly engineering-wise. I've played with a few of your programs and all appear to be thoughtfully designed. Thanks for your efforts.
Dan