Classic Clippy Story

This short story that Larry links to is a great reminder of the dangers of trying to create software that's *too* helpful. It's evocative of the way many C++ developers feel about the evolution of the IDE experience since Visual C++ 6.0. One customer even told me that they find they gradient menus in VS 200x make the IDE feel too gimmicky, not serious enough. It's simply amazing when you realize how hard it is to write software that appeals to everyone. As always, looking at www.google.com reminds us it's not impossible...