FAQ: Looking into Office 12
C|Net | at | by Mike
Office 12 is Office like you have never seen before.
With the update, due in the second half of 2006, Microsoft is planning its biggest-ever redesign of its productivity suite, starting with a new user interface. The company hopes to bring an end to the days of clicking on three menus and two dialog boxes just to format a document. In their place, Microsoft has added a ribbon at the top of most documents that aims to offer the most likely menu choices.
The radical revamp could help the company as it seeks to stave off competition from OpenOffice and others, but it also risks alienating those who like things the way they are.