People inside Microsoft have openly related a story about Bill Gates’ initial evaluation of Office 2007. He congratulated them on a number of new features, but the additions weren’t exactly fresh; they were introduced with Office 97.

Hearing about Gates acting human is always a pleasure, but why would anyone at Microsoft admit that he didn’t know about features that had been a part of one of his company’s premier products for 10 years? (Another question: How is it that they still work there?)

The answer is simple: Office 2007 does what it was designed to do. That is, to make it easier for users to find features that were buried in previous versions’ meandering menu structures. It turned Gates into a guinea pig, enlightening him about product functionality he didn’t know existed, even though he had undoubtedly seen it before.

But the redesign’s success brings two new challenges to help desks, which they didn’t face with earlier Office upgrades.

The first is bringing users up to speed. The new interface renders even the most perceptive employees helpless when trying to complete tasks they’ve done for years. Read more…

admin Office 2007, Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program, Outsourcing, ROI Bill Gates, guinea pigs, migration, Office 97, upgrade