Redesigning bloat: How Microsoft Office got a makeover

The next version of Microsoft's Office features a new, cleaner interface with no border around the application and much more white space.

(Credit: Microsoft)

REDMOND, Wash. -- Microsoft has been beefing up its design chops in recent months, pushing the sleek Metro user interface in Windows 8 and diving into hardware design with its striking Surface tablet prototype.

But maybe the most daring makeover comes today as Microsoft unveils the new-look Office. The productivity software suite is among Microsoft's longest-in-the-tooth products, dating as it does back to 1989. It's ballooned from a relatively compact offering of word-processing, spreadsheet, email and presentation software to a vast collection of applications, each of which gets countless new features with every release.

Elegant design is often about simplicity. Office, more than ju... [Read more]