Imagine this. Imagine having a form of payment that requires the payee to change the manner in which they receive and deposit their payment. Imagine a system in which the currency in circulation is “upgraded” periodically and that within 8 or 10 years, the previous versions are no longer “supported” by the banking system.
Still with me? Let’s continue to imagine.
Now imagine paying Microsoft for their upgraded Office platform with a banking and currency system that changes as described above. Microsoft would have to direct their employees to change out their credit cards, requisition policies, travel policies, and accounting platforms to accomodate external demands just to remain in the game.
Over the last several months I have had to adapt to upgrades to Windows 7 and Office 2007. It is very much like moving the furniture around on a blind person. The features are still there, but access to the various tools and menues are arranged much differently.
So, Microsoft, I have spent considerable time relearning how to use software that I was proficient with in the previous rev. I am not enjoying new capability- only new learning curves. WTF!!!!
Your productivity tools are having a negative effect on my accumulated lifetime productivity. This is worth something. Where do I send the bill?
Lamentations on Chemistry 
Hi Gaussling,
to be fair to Microsoft I think that the 2007 versions are a big step up. Of course I had the same feel in the beginning re: learning curve and I was frustrated by what felt like the loss of some shortcuts, but having just finished my PhD thesis with it I have to say that it handled it like a champ and allowed me to produce a document that was attractive (in stark contrast to my Masters). I would say it is now almost on a par with Tex in terms of output. I think if you contrast and compare this with experience in scientific hardware and applications it is no different. You don’t need to upgrade but you will be left behind if you don’t and although there is plenty of old stuff around in most labs you wont find online support for an ancient GC or spectrometer… in many cases you cant even find mention of the device on the company website. In some cases Microsoft even does one the favour of releasing worse upgrades in order to make the old school users feel better about themselves 🙂
BTW keep up the good work!
Thanks for the kind words. You are right about the utility of MS products. I wrote my thesis in the early 90’s on MS Word and it is still the only word processor I use. Where I find myself is the position where I have perhaps a dozen kinds of softwares I need to be more than proficient on. What makes these instruments valuable is that they increase productivity by focusing the responsibility of operation and upkeep on fewer people. I understand this, but sometimes it gets to be a bit much. Then MicroSoft produces an upgrade in which the features have been scrambled. Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!! \;-)