Yet with release after release, vendors add features that no one uses or cares about -- a problem that reached a nadir with the Microsoft Office Assistant, which was so universally reviled that Microsoft actually sent out press releases announcing Clippy's death when it was removed.

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Gates and an assistant then demonstrated some new features of the upcoming Microsoft Office 2000, which will have a "self repairing" capability for applications.

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For example, if an employer can demonstrate that a typing test and skills tests using Microsoft Office software products constitute a fair sample of the content of an administrative assistant job, then the tests will probably be considered content valid.

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