I'd break it into two categories. There's software that expects you to be an expert.
Then there's software that's designed to allow lay-people to get stuff done with the promise that it will hide the nasty things of the world from them.
Microsoft Word really is the perfect example of this. The main use-case it's built around is being a lovely place for a new user to write and print a small document. It captures users from this simple use-case, and then tries to upsell them to large document and multi-user scenarios with madness like mail-merge wizards and sharepoint.
The promise of Microsoft Word is to bring functionality to users while shielding them from the nasty realities of the world. It's reasonable to be vicious about it when it fails to protect the user from themselves.
Then there's software that's designed to allow lay-people to get stuff done with the promise that it will hide the nasty things of the world from them.
Microsoft Word really is the perfect example of this. The main use-case it's built around is being a lovely place for a new user to write and print a small document. It captures users from this simple use-case, and then tries to upsell them to large document and multi-user scenarios with madness like mail-merge wizards and sharepoint.
The promise of Microsoft Word is to bring functionality to users while shielding them from the nasty realities of the world. It's reasonable to be vicious about it when it fails to protect the user from themselves.