Good news -- Office 15 likely won't be Metro-based

By Preston Gralla

Rumors say that the upcoming version of Office, code-named Office 15, will feature a traditional desktop-style interface rather than one that sports the new Metro look designed more for tablets than desktop PCs. That's good news, because Metro, at this point, simply isn't suited for productivity apps like Office.

The Verge claims that according to sources, Office 15 "won't be rebuilt as full 'Metro-style' apps using the new WinRT programming model." WinRT is what is used to build Metro apps. The site adds that some design elements will be Metro-like, but the guts of the new Office won't be a Metro app.

That's good news for several reasons. First is that Metro's tiled design simply isn't suitable for desktop PCs; it's clearly designed for touch. In addition, Office shouldn't be a guineau pig for a new development model because it's too important a productivity tool, and people depend on its reliability. The likelihood of bugs appearing would be higher if it were built using WinRT than more established tools.

Given that Metro is still in its infancy, Microsoft's experience with how users will actually use it is somewhat limited. So it would be difficult at this point for Microsoft to know what will make people more productive, and what will make them less productive.

In theory Microsoft could probably use WinRT to turn Office into a Metro app and still keep the old interface, but the thrill of the new would exert too strong a pull on designers for them to resist it at this point. They would be tempted to use as many new features as possible, whether they were useful or not.

So I hope it's true that the next version of Office won't be Metro-based. By the time the next version after Office 15 comes out, WinRT and Metro will be stabler and more mature, and Microsoft will be able to far better know how to make the best use of the new programming model.