[IxDA Discuss] Microsoft to license Office 2007 UI system

[Pabini Gabriel-Petit]

Pauric wrote: "I'm left wondering if a signature on the 'licence' is the
cost of entry into some form of app marketplace. It would make perfect sense
for MS to apply a unified look and feel to the new 'web as a platform'."

I think it is--whether for desktop and/or Web apps--but admission is barred
to companies who are developing products that compete with Office. I wonder
what would happen if a company signed the license to review the guidelines,
then implemented something that was in any way derivative of the guidelines.
Since it seems there's not that much that's original in the UI design of
Office 2007, perhaps the act of signing the license would constrain their
design more then it would be if they didn't sign the license. Now, I'm
starting to sound paranoid. ;-)

As I said earlier, I think it's Microsoft's goal to establish a new UI
standard that Office competitors cannot use, thus making their competitors
apps non-standard and undesirable. The alternative is that their new Office
UI would be perceived by users as non-standard, so they want non-competing
application developers to validate their new UI standard by developing their
products using it.

You're right that the layout changes that depend on the width of the ribbon
resemble dynamic layouts on Web pages or apps that emulate them. So, this
may be another aspect of Office 2007 that wouldn't be patentable because of
prior art.

Jared, loved your article on ads. Amen!

Pabini