6/12/2002 -- According to Certiport, the organization that runs the Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) certification program for Microsoft, the Office 97 versions of the MOUS exams will be retired sometime next month.

Microsoft offers three tracks for MOUS certification: Office 97, Office 2000 and Office XP. However, Certiport said that interest in the 97 is currently very small. "The majority are on 2000, although XP is catching on well," the company told us.

Even though the 97 exams are being retired, Certiport stressed that the certifications themselves will remain valid. "Of course we encourage people to upgrade their certifications, but [all] 97 titles are still good," said David Saedi, vice president of Certiport.

The retirement has yet to be officially announced on the MOUS section of Microsoft's Web site. For more information on Microsoft's MOUS program, click here. - B.N.