Personal Bytes

I’m not sure about how old is Microsoft’s Office. I remember using Word for Windows (aka Winword) a long long time ago so I suppose it has more than ten years. From Winword 3 to Office 2003 little has changed on the graphical user interface. Some features have been implemented and others have been improved but the interface was always kept back from big changes.

Now Microsoft felt that they’re hitting a stone and so they decided to change the user interface. Users weren’t buying into the idea of revolutionary features. You know, things were kept almost the same since Winword and not matter what Microsoft’s PR said, people knew that.

This means that whenever people will be willing to update to Office 2007 there will be an extra fee for training users. Afterall, if OpenOffice.org requires such, so will require Office’s 2007 new interface. People will waste time learning the means to reach the end. Oh, and add more $300 for the license.
Will this stop users from upgrading? I most definitely think so. And then Microsoft will have to release a Service Pack with the option to switch back to the old interface.

Don’t get me wrong, I like innovation and change. But the kind of people that use Microsoft Office are not willing to support them. At least, now. This will represent a splendid opportunity for OpenOffice.org to strike. I hope it all works right. I’ll be supporting OOorg.