Microsoft today is marking the retail launch of Office 2010, the next version of its widely used productivity software -- hoping to keep traditional programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook relevant in a world increasingly focused on social networking, online services and mobile devices.

Six years ago, back in June 2004, a group of students spent a considerable amount of time thinking about this moment.

They were Microsoft's "Information Worker Board of the Future" -- a collection of 15 bright and socially conscious college students from around the world. Microsoft worked through youth social network TakingITGlobal to assemble and bring to Redmond what amounted to an international advisory committee. Their mission was to help reshape products such as Office and Windows for the next generation.

Clearly there was an element of show involved, with Microsoft wanting to make a public statement about connecting with a new wave of global workers, the "Internet natives" with the cell phones and the big ideas.

But the concept was unusual enough that I sat in on some of the sessions and wrote about the Board of the Future initiative. In the process, it became clear that the students were very serious. For all the appreciation and deference they showed their hosts, they held nothing back in trying to help the world's largest software company do better by them and their peers.

"I think the mindset that you're showing now is exactly what is the problem," said one of the students, a 24-year-old marketing major and graphic artist from Norway, when Microsoft Office veteran Jeff Raikes -- who had just turned 46 -- asked the group to identify one new feature or tool that the company should be working on. "We don't need more features; we don't need more tools. We just need them to work."

Five members of Microsoft's "Board of the Future" in 2004: Foreground (L-R): Oyvind Kildal Stagnes, Norway; Daniele Rosa, Italy; and Anesu Mhlanga, South Africa; Background: Simon Moss, Australia; and James Kay, U.S. (Courtesy Daniel Rasmus; click for larger image.)

They told the company about the technological needs of their countries and their generation, foreshadowing the present day by explaining how actively they were using social media to communicate across borders.

They stressed principles such as affordability, machine intelligence, simplicity, speed, compatibility, and cultural customization. They toured Microsoft's facilities, saw its prototypes, visited a local elementary school, and used what they saw and heard to help shape their recommendations to the company.

It was a fun, insightful and fearless group. And it was short-lived. Microsoft held a similar event with a smaller board the next year in Budapest, Hungary, before discontinuing the program as the company's attention shifted to the Office 2007 release.

But the future they were asked to envision is now here. So how is Microsoft doing? Who better to ask than its Board of the Future? That's what we did over the past several weeks, getting in touch with about half of the original board.

Continue reading for their stories, and their answers.

Special Report: Microsoft and its 'Board of the Future' in 2010
Part 1: A social movement for technology in the workplace
Part 2: Making Office more usable: What has worked, and what hasn't
Part 3: The technology they use: Office at work, alternatives at home
Part 4: Long-term impact: What the board meant for its members