Searching for ways to improve Office

[Capper]

For those who have trouble finding their old commands in Office's new Ribbon interface, Microsoft has a new option: search for it.

On Monday, the company is releasing an Office add-on called Search Commands that lets users type the function they are looking to do. After months of testing it internally, Microsoft is ready to give the public a chance to try it out. But the new tool won't be found on Microsoft's main Web site.

Rather, it will be available via a new effort, dubbed Office Labs. Spearheaded by Microsoft veteran Chris Pratley, Office Labs is Microsoft's attempt to test out productivity ideas that may--or may not--be ready for prime time.

In an interview, Pratley said Office Labs is designed to try out anything from just a feature to an entire new product concept. The goal is to get feedback early on, before deciding where to put the big development dollars.

"It's kind of expensive to make an entire product and then put it out there and see if it's any good," he said. Pratley knows firsthand. He was among those who helped create the Office OneNote application earlier this decade after spending the 1990s working on Word and Excel.

Office Labs is not the first time Microsoft has tried to create a sandbox for new ideas. It already has its "Live Labs," which has served as an incubator for the online services business.

Searching for ways to improve Office

[screwballl]

Same story as whats on DailyTech:

DailyTech - Microsoft Office Labs Looks to Make Office Better

and my response:

The only thing MSO07 offers that OOo doesn't is the pretty ribbon interface and email retrieval... so now Microsoft wants people install more Microsoft bloatware?
I am sorry but OpenOffice can do it all without the need for a pretty and useless ribbon interface or Vista stylings.

I have them both and I rarely touch MSO...

of course the MS fanbois voted me down there very quickly because they prefer looks over function, which is also the same group that say "Vista doesn't have ANY problems, its the user"