Whether clicked or not, autosave does not automatically save the document.  It
does not save recovery info every X minutes.  The only time info is saved is
when I manually click "save" or the "save as."

I am a writer and hope that this issue will be seen as a serious flaw in
OpenOffice, rather than a minor usage issue.

The whole _purpose_ of an autosave feature every X minutes is to replace the
user having to manually save on his or her own.  Whether it overwrites the
original document or saves to a temporary working file doesn't matter (to an
end-user writer), but what DOES matter is knowing that, should power go off or
the program crash, a working and usable document will remain that is _no older_
than X minutes.  

Currently, I have to manually click save (regardless of whether the "autosave X
minutes" is or isn't clicked.  If the power goes out, I am stuck (on the
"restore" when I reenter Open Office) with whatever document I last _manually_
saved.  If I'm lucky, I'd saved recently.

Open Office _must_ have a way for the user to minimize accidental data loss. 
That is a vital part of a working office suite. Ideally, the feature should work
like this:

1.  User opens document.
2.  User works for 2 minutes or 3 hours, with the computer saving the new
document every X minutes to a temp "emergency restore" file.
3.  If the user manually saves, the "emergency restore" file is reset.
4.  In the event of a power failure, the user re-enters Open Office, is given a
choice of opening the original file(s) or a newer "working" copy(ies) (hopefully
time stamped, thus aiding the user in deciding which copy to choose) of whatever
documents were open at the time of unplanned exit.

As a writer and journalist who's livelyhood depends on my word processor, I urge
Open Office to please work towards providing this functionality and fix the
autosave ASAP.  If I have to interrupt my train of thought every 2 minutes to
click save, I will have to choose an alternative, more reliable word processor.
  The idea that autosaving is a two edged sword that will lead to data loss due
to overwriting is ignoring the basic fact that the user can _turn_it_off_ if he
or she doesn't want to use it.  But a reliable, easy, user-friendly autosave
feature MUST be an option for any professional writer.

I love Open Office and am writing only to help improve a great product and make
sure that a vital feature doesn't get overlooked.  I wish I were a
programmer---I'd happily provide this on my own if I could.