Well, so I changed the oil...and guess what? Lots of tiny, shiny, bits of metal in the oil. I'm still mystified as to why the owner's manual mentions nothing about this initial oil change.
Thanks Eugene. If that initial oil change is required then it's not too good that it isn't mentioned in the manual. Certainly wouldn't give me a lot of confidence in purchasing equipment from Craftsman or Husqvarna again. I'm going to go ahead and change the oil this weekend and see how metallic looking or not it is.