The Version Diversion

After launching its Windows Word as version 1.0, Microsoft naturally followed with Word 2.0 (1991). Then something odd happened. WordPerfect released version 6.0 of its highly successful WordPerfect software, and it proved to be Microsoft Word's main competitor of the time. To stay afloat in the version-number race, Microsoft decided to align its Windows version numbers with its MS-DOS and Mac version numbers, producing Word for Windows 6.0 in 1993.

Later, Microsoft sought an exit to the version-number game entirely: Its next Windows Word release switched to year-based branding (Word 95) that matched the launch of Windows 95. But once Microsoft gained full control of the word-processing market, weird things began to happen to its most important office application.

The Birth of Clippy

Word 97 (1997) launched the one feature Word users generally loathe the most: The Office Assistant. By default, the assistant was "Clippit" (often called "Clippy"), a talking, dancing paperclip with slanted eyes, who spied on your progress and insisted on telling you what you were doing. Like a well-intentioned child offering assistance with a complicated task, instead of helping, Clippy just got in the way.