9/26/2002 -- In a bid to rid its Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) certification program of its acronym, Microsoft announced earlier this week that it has officially changed the program's name to Microsoft Office Specialist.

Effective immediately, the program no longer has any official acronym-- Microsoft will now refer to the program only by its new full name or a slightly shorter version, Office Specialist.

John Pilmer, spokesperson for Certiport (the company that manages Office-related certifications for Microsoft), explained that name change was brought on by the desire to have the program's name more strongly reflect its association with the Office Suite. According to Pilmer, the program's previous name lent itself too well to the use of the MOUS acronym on resumes and business cards, and Microsoft felt that this acronym doesn't properly convey the titles' worth. "The benefit of the certification relates back to the..Microsoft Office Suite," he said. "We think this [change] is good news for users, because the name is now more clearly associated [with Office]."

Although the name change officially took place on Sept. 23, Pilmer said that the transition to the new name among the program's partners and vendors may take until the end of the year to complete.

Pilmer stressed that any certifications granted under the program's previous name remain valid, that anyone who would like a replacement certificate reflecting the new Office Specialist moniker can order one for $10 U.S.

To view the official announcement about this change, click here. -B.N.