It Looks Like You're Blowing a Gasket! Can I Help?

From the New York Times comes evidence that the new version of Microsoft Word might finally cut down on the bloat that's made Word, for years, the most annoying software that everyone still has to use. The "ribbon," which supposedly replaces all the formatting submenus, is meant to contain every tool you could possibly need. (It had better, since one of the quirks of the new Word is that there's no menu customization. Never use a feature? Want to remove it? Too bad.)

The new MS Word "ribbon"

Of course, Microsoft several years ago demoted the most irritating feature in MS Word, Clippy, the paperclip-shaped Microsoft Office Assistant.

Clippy

I don't know anyone in whom the sudden appearance of Clippy, spouting his inaccurate assumptions about your writing habits ("It looks like you're writing a letter! Can I help?"), did not cause immediate, all-consuming rage. Such was the universal recognition of, and hatred for, Clippy that I once saw the audience at an improv show laugh hysterically at Clippy's popping up at an inappropriate moment ("It looks like you're writing a suicide note! Can I help?") and cheer wildly at his death.