Hi all
I think a previous poster in this thread alluded to much of the problems I have with "Program Updates".
He said MS Office 2007 has way more options and features than 2003 -- this may be true but apart from EXCEL where I'm normally considered as a "Power User" I don't NEED MORE features.
Bog standard OFFICE 2003 has MORE than enough functionality for me -- if I need the equation editor and mathematical symbols and the possibilty to enter complex fractions in a Word document I'll just use the simple (free) add in.
Once you bloat a product with so much extra functionality it becomes rather difficult to use in any case.
A good example is in the really great book by the master of EXCEL ("Mr EXCEL")
Learn Excel 97 Through EXCEL 2007 from Mr EXCEL.
In it he states (with justification) that EXCEL 2003 was the best version ever -- whilst a lot of quick stuff can also be done in 2007 it's a lot more work in most cases and there's very little in EXCEL 2007 that isn't in 2003 -- just the Office interface has changed.
OT but in a related vein -- I used to use NERO as my "Burning Program" - but after about version 6 there was so much bloat and totally unnecessary multi-media stuff in it it's now a 100% waste of time.
The useful stuff like mounting an ISO as a "Virtual DVD / CD hasn't been functional since VISTA and the built in backup failed to work as early as XP SP2. Meanwhile the amount of crapware built in to the product just goes on -- so that's another app that's gone from my system.
Tip to any of you designing Software who might be reading this thread.
Get the CORE functionality really good and don't suffer from that disease "Featureitis". If the the base product is fine and needs a small enhancement consider adding these via simple "plugins" or "add ons". They'll keep the core functionality for most users and supply the extra stuff for "Power users".
Easier to maintain and develop as well.

Cheers
jimbo