It's a classic strategy: When a competitor is gaining on you, simply change the rules of the game. It's the reason so many automobile makers claim their products are "best in class," all the while maintaining that they are also, not coincidentally, in a class by themselves. But with Microsoft Office 12, due in late 2006 alongside Windows Vista, Microsoft isn't just changing the rules of the game. In this case, the software giant is doing something it hasn't done with Office in over a decade: It's innovating on a grand scale.
Those who haven't yet played with Office 12 can be forgiven for thinking that Microsoft is simply moving icons and toolbars around in the user interface. But that's not the case at all. As the company noted last week at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2005, its Office products have matured dramatically since the first Office product, Excel, was released over 20 years ago. The first version of Microsoft Word, for example, supported about 100 commands in just a few simple menus and toolbars. But Microsoft Word 2003, the latest version, supports over 1500 commands and sports over 30 toolbars as a result.
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