Check both the HKEY_CURRENT_USER and the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry hives. The article only details the former, whereas putting the value in the latter would cause it to be applied to all users of the machine, not just you.
I agree the fact that OpenOffice can easily deal with existing Word templates is a terrible bind, the fact that it does basic things like print direct to PDF out of the box is a real pain in the ass, and the fact that it's free really annoys me.