I agree with this, but it was far less clear in the 90s. I think a lot of people (myself included) were expecting/hoping that UIs in productivity software were

I agree with this, but it was far less clear in the 90s. I think a lot of people (myself included) were expecting/hoping that UIs in productivity software were converging on some sort of finished design or standard that there wouldn't be much reason to monkey around with. MS Office programs - and many other proprietary software titles - were taught not only in many schools, but also in various vocational programs. You could get 'certified' in having 'mastered' a particular UI, and you expected that knowledge to continue to be useful for years. Seems quaint now, but there were some nice things about it. A carpenter doesn't expect their saws & hammers to radically morph every product cycle.