New Promise Microsoft Give-And-Take Guru Regrets The Cute Simply Intrusive Share Assistant

Microsoft Word, the well-nigh famous discussion processing software ever, is turning eighteen this month.

On this occasion, Microsoft Presspass carries an interview alongside Peter Pathe, the original guy behind Microsoft Word since 1993.

Peter frankly admits that the animated Office Assistant or the Clippy characteristic introduced alongside Word 97 didn't become downwards good alongside the users.

We knew that nosotros needed to brand Word easier to piece of job together with the features to a greater extent than accessible to to a greater extent than people. But it turns out a cartoon newspaper clip bespeak if you lot wanted assistance alongside that alphabetic lineament to Mom wasn’t ever every bit welcome every bit nosotros had hoped it would be.

Word Clippy would popular opened upwards whenever the plan idea the user could piece of job its advice, together with oftentimes the advice was unnecessary or useless inwards its context. Peter agreed that the characteristic was to a greater extent than annoying than helpful:

Great people worked on these features, but at the destination of the twenty-four hr stream nosotros needed to brand them less obtrusive or only non bring shipped them inwards the flat nosotros did.

GUIdebook has a listing of Microsoft Word splash screens correct from version 1.1.

As of Office 2007, Microsoft has removed the Office Assistant characteristic inwards favor of a novel assistance arrangement that searches Microsoft Office Online website for the well-nigh recent version of Office help. There's also an selection to search offline help.