What I am about to describe is a specific procedure that should be a relatively
simple fix to add functionality to OpenOffice that nearly every other office
suite has had for decades.

I would like to be able to click on the font color button and have the font
color change right then with the next typed character instead of having to drag
the cursor over the text, as it works in MS Office, KOffice, Abiword, etc. etc.
.  Obviously highlighting text, then clicking the font color button can still be
used when needed.

Since this behavior happens when the font color is selected through the
"character" menu, why not map this behavior to clicking on the font color menu
or clicking on the detachable font color palette window?  I'm not familiar with
OO.org's codebase, but would it be that hard to simply map the same action that
occurs when a color is selected through the character menu to clicking the font
color button or palette as well?