The Micro-Soft touch to style

When you see “Microsoft,” what are the first five qualities that come to mind? Is “friendly” one of them? How about “human”? “Caring”? No? Are any of those in the top ten? The top twenty-five? If Microsoft were to produce an editorial style guide, what would you expect it to be like?

Well, guess what. Microsoft has a style guide, and the three words that best describe its approach are “friendly,” “human,” and “caring.”

Sorry – hope you weren’t drinking coffee when you read that. But it’s true. Whatever image you may have of Microsoft’s corporate presence or its products – at least a few of which you probably use every working day of your life – its style guide advocates a wonderfully people-centered, user-friendly approach.

Here are six of the key principles Microsoft wants anyone who is writing or editing for Microsoft to follow – and hopes others writing about (or for) computer technology will adopt as well.

1. Sound like a person

“Read your text aloud,” the guide says. “Does it sound like something a real person would say? Be friendly and conversational.”  That means ditching the robotic error messages of yore – no– “Invalid ID,” “Error #41375: Unexpected input,” “Critical System Shutdown: Computer Lifespan Terminated.” This type of traumatic message is strictly against Microsoft’s house style.

Instead, think along the lines of “You need an ID that looks like this: someone@example.com” – or, “Sorry, I didn’t understand that” or “I have good news and bad news. The good news is that you’re about to get a new computer.” (OK, those last two examples aren’t actually from Microsoft, but you get the idea.) It also means using contractions: “it’s,” “you’ll,” “let’s.” While you may expect computers to sound like Mister Data, humans shouldn’t. And that’s the point.

2. Don’t waste people’s time

“Be brief,” says Microsoft. “Get to the point fast.” “Use fewer words and bigger ideas.” Microsoft style is intended for stuff busy people read because they have to. It tells you how to make complex instructions easy to follow for busy, easily confused people. For example, instead of teasing out a reveal, Microsoft’s guide would have this article open with: “Microsoft’s style is warm and relaxed, crisp and clear, and ready to lend a hand.” Which is, in fact, what Microsoft does.

3. Don’t be a rampant capitalist

Did you really just read that right? OK, Microsoft isn’t anti-capitalist – but their writing style guide is anti-capitalization.

In the world of business, people often use Capital Letters on All Sorts of Things because it looks Important. But Microsoft doesn’t want you do that. Even “Microsoft Partner” should be “Microsoft partner.” Unless a word is capitalized in a brand name, or a proper noun, or the first word of a sentence, lowercase it. This extends to headings too. Title case – like “Don’t Be a Rampant Capitalist” – is a no-go under Microsoft’s style guide.

4. Punctuate like it’s the twenty-first century

Did you know younger generations view periods at the end of short messages as rude? Microsoft doesn’t frame it quite that way, but it does say “Skip end punctuation on titles, headings, subheadings, UI titles, and items in a list that are three or fewer words.” On the flip side, it endorses use of the Oxford comma (also known as the serial comma). And it forbids you to use double spaces after anything ever, even periods (“But my typing teacher said—” Sorry, typing teachers don’t exist anymore), and not to use them around dashes either – ah well.

5. Treat all people like people

Microsoft also wants you to remember the humans reading the text. This means avoiding terms that embody biases, such as:

• gender-specific terms (“chairman,” “manmade,” using “he” as a universal pronoun)

• terms that use cultural stereotypes or appropriation (“spirit animal”) or have negative racial associations (“master/slave”)

• framing and wording that diminishes people with disabilities (including “suffering from” instead of “person with”)

• generalizations about cultures or nations

It also means being conscious in using place names – avoid politically disputed place names, and “don't mix countries with states or continents”: for example, “places such as Minnesota, France, and Africa” is a no-go. And it means maintaining a balance in fictitious scenarios – if you’re talking about a hypothetical office, it should have “names that reflect a variety of gender identities and cultural backgrounds,” rather than a bunch of Jack Smiths, Bill Robinsons, and Brian McDonalds.

6. Remember, it’s a big world out there

In case you’d forgotten, “Microsoft customers live and work all over the world and speak a variety of languages.” This doesn’t just mean that what you write is going to be translated into other languages – often by machines, which may not handle witty turns of phrase well. It also means that there are many different cultural references and expectations. This includes money, of course, and distinctions such as province versus state, and how to address people, and even how to refer to seasons (in short: don’t). This extends not just to wording but even to images and even colors – “Colors may have religious, cultural, or political significance, particularly colors used on flags or for country- or region-specific holidays,” and if you feature images of particular landmarks or work or social situations, they may turn out to have implications you don’t want.

How to perfect it

Even if you never write for Microsoft, Microsoft style is worth following if you value clear, human-centered communication. And if you’re writing with Microsoft Word, you can use PerfectIt to check your adherence to Microsoft’s style.

PerfectIt’s Microsoft Writing Style Guide checker reviews:

• Microsoft’s complete list of preferred terminology (e.g., “hard drive” instead of “hard disk,” “keyboard shortcuts” over “hot keys,” and “stopped responding” in place of “froze)

• Key points of capitalization and punctuation including preferred hyphenation of key terms such as “drag-and-drop”)

• Bias-free language – something PerfectIt has been helping with for years.

If you don’t already have PerfectIt, download a free trial. It’s the industry-standard editorial plug-in for MS Word, trusted by companies and editorial professionals around the world. And yes – even by Microsoft.