Why are there upgrades for MS Office?

[casey.o]

I keep hearing about upgrades for MS Office. I've never understood why
these are needed. Ok, when a new version is just released, I suppose
there are a few bugs to work out and fix. But after that. why would
there be any need for upgrades?

I know most upgrades for XP (or any OS) are for security issues, aside
from some bug fixes right after a new release. But since MS Office is
not an OS, I cant see where there would be any security issues.

I'll have to admit I dont know much about MS Office. It's not something
I've ever needed. Wordpad is all I've ever needed. However I did play
around with an older version of MS Office (for Windows 9x). years ago,
just to see what it does.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Uprades are NOT for security issues.
Upgrades are for GUI, version, functionality and other cosmetic issues.

HotFixes and Patches are for security issues.

MS Office can run macros, which means it can be compromised as a means
to get malware to run.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

MS Office can run macros, which means it can be compromised as a means
to get malware to run.

Yes, but I *think* you're missing David's point, with which I agree.
I'll try to say the same thing a different way:

Upgrades are either new versions or improvements without changing the
version number. Up*dates* are fixes to problems or security issues.
Casey.o used the wrong term because he presumably didn't understand
the difference between them; he meant *updates* to Microsoft Office.
Yes, there also have been upgrades--to Office 2007, 2010, 2013--but I
don't think those are what he was referring to.

And there can be bug fixes at any point in a software product's life,
not just at its beginning.