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Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

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Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#191

Post by riskable »

mawburn wrote: post #166
Negative1 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Unless Microsoft rebuilds Skype for the ground up" This. This exactly. Is it really unbelievable to assume Microsoft wouldn't attempt to build their own IRC+ clone and save a few billion while they are at it? I do agree with you, Slack is much better than Skype, but I would add that Lync is just as good. I went from Lync to Slack (after changing jobs) and I would say that Lync not only works just as well but has mor…

I couldn't copy a line of text on Lync without it randomly grabbing other random lines from earlier in the conversation. Not the line above it, or the last thing I said. Just completely random things that either person had said, that may have been 2 or 3 messages ago, or maybe 2 or 3 hundred messages ago. This was on Windows 7. The problem seems to have been solved when we upgraded to Skype for Business a few months…

This is still a problem with the latest version! I am forced to use Lync every day and the copy & paste issues make it completely unusable. It is the worst-in-class IM client, worst-in-class screen sharing tool, and worst-in-class, well, everything.

Even basic stuff like keeping track of when you're actually in front of your computer or idle doesn't work properly in Lync. I'll be typing away for hours and it thinks I'm "Idle: 2 hours" to other people in my contact list.

Then there's the whole, "You can't add this person to your contacts because they have been added to too many other people's contact list" problem. W T F ? How is that even possible in this day and age? Sigh.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#192

Post by v64 »

nuggien wrote: post #81
v64 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't speak for the rest, but I personally use the GitHub integration to be notified in chat when builds have failed, pull requests are submitted and commented on, etc. Otherwise I end up having to keep GitHub open in a tab and refresh every minute.

I don't understand. Why would you have to have a github tab open and refresh? There have always been email notifications for all these events. Also, why is getting these notifications in chat preferred over email?

When the notification comes into Slack that the build broke, I can immediately type in the chat "I'm looking into that one" and everyone knows what I'm referring to and knows instantly that they don't need to waste time on it.

At my workplace, everyone is usually always active in chat working out problems and having discussions, so a notification is more likely to be seen by more people sooner in the chat than in an email.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#193

Post by dave2000 »

brenschluss wrote: post #189
dave2000 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MSN had big flashing ads. When I first saw that I assumed I was dealing with another windows install with malware on it. I've paid for the OS, why have I got this freemium crap? Slack has no way of letting me know who's read the messages. Come on, it's 2016. I asked them about this and they told me the only solution is it get each contact to add a sunglasses icon as they read each message! What a joke.

What does 'read' in a Slack context mean, though? If you scroll past it quickly, is it read? If you accidentally open your Slack window, is it read? A 'read' notification would just be a misleading user experience.

Read in the way a Facebook messenger message or a hangout message is read; you've got the "channel" open and the message is visible or is above the visible one. Clearly it's impossible to know whether a message has actually been read by a human but there Facebook/hangouts solution is almost perfect.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#194

Post by derFunk »

First Microsoft destroyed Skype, now they want to destroy Slack? Hopefully not gonna happen.

We're in the process of moving away from Skype, which we used for 10 years in the company, to Slack. Partners went away from Skype to Flowdock and Hipchat.

Instead of buying Slack, Microsoft should invest to make Skype great again. Yet I'm not sure if this is still possible after they broke all features Skype excelled at. Or use the money to found a new competitor. But please don't buy Slack. This can only fail.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#195

Post by mdonahoe »

vpkaihla wrote: post #78
apocalyptic0n3 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's far more than web-based IRC and has a substantial userbase, a significant number of whom are paying for the service. Given the failures MS has had with communication tools in the past, I'm not surprised at all they mulled an $8B acquisition of Slack

> It's far more than web-based IRC How exactly?

Revenue

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#196

Post by Shorel »

Coding_Cat wrote: post #134
abawany wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember performing the periodic AppData cleanup in 2009/2010 but haven't had to do that in the last few years. It was during that time that the chat delay issues were very common as well. From my point of view, while the Microsoft takeover and remake initially brought difficulties with login, the recent versions were not too bad apart from the Windows 8 Store version mess. But that is just my experience. While I p…

For me their still the occasional problem. Perhaps it is related to Windows 7?

In my experience, it happens if your computer's local time is not set up correctly.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#197

Post by abawany »

Coding_Cat wrote: post #134
abawany wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember performing the periodic AppData cleanup in 2009/2010 but haven't had to do that in the last few years. It was during that time that the chat delay issues were very common as well. From my point of view, while the Microsoft takeover and remake initially brought difficulties with login, the recent versions were not too bad apart from the Windows 8 Store version mess. But that is just my experience. While I p…

For me their still the occasional problem. Perhaps it is related to Windows 7?

Unfortunately, I can't say - I use it on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, along with Android without issues. One thing I do that Skype appears to discourage is restart the application. This means don't allow it to launch on startup, I don't save my password (this is my practice with most apps), and I kill it if I know I won't need it; the latter is not practical if you need to be in constant touch with teams. I am not sure if any of this is a factor in my experience.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#198

Post by JonnieCache »

Jordrok wrote: post #113
Klathmon wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>it's unfathomable how Slack could still not have this feature I hear this saying a lot, and every time I just can't take it seriously. This is the first time I've ever heard of someone wanting customizable background colors for messages on a messaging platform. It's just not something I or anyone I know about cares about. I just can't see how that would be considered a high importance feature by anyone.

I seem to remember AIM allowing customized fonts and background colors around 15 years ago... Just sayin'

mIRC supported ANSI colour codes for foreground and background back in the 90s. I seem to remember people hated you for using them though.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#199

Post by derFunk »

baddox wrote: post #70
chishaku wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ICQ, Microsoft instant messenger ... slack like tools... I think people too often overlook Slack's integrations. Yes, Slack is "just" chat or "just" a glorified IRC. Or is it? I don't know how long it would take me to integrate my Stripe, Github, Trello, and Zendesk streams into IRC to the point where I could set it and forget it. I think for business users at least, using this type of setup _effectively_ could mak…

Slack seems to have mostly eclipsed Hipchat, at least among Silicon Valley startups, but integrations probably weren't a huge factor in that. Slack does have a nicer flow for integrations, but Hipchat worked quite well (and actually had much-missed features like customizing the background color of messages; it's unfathomable how Slack could still not have this feature).

Hipchat, like ALL other Atlassian products are always feeling just incomplete. By design. (I'm using 80% of their product line).

Slack just feels complete. For tech and non-tech teams.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#200

Post by saulrh »

cdnsteve wrote: post #93

We initially used Skype on our team to communicate with others. However, the software was horribly buggy on OSX. Slack has become part of our main toolchain. It works, has the basic features you need and doesn't get in our way. The integrations are great and we'll continue to use them. Unless Microsoft rebuilds Skype for the ground up, I don't see us leaving Slack for it. They had their chance, and they dropped the b…

> Unless Microsoft rebuilds Skype for the ground up, I don't see us leaving Slack for it. They had their chance, and they dropped the ball.

The funny thing is, they didn't just have a chance, they had a huge chance. My company can't currently use Slack because our regulatory environment (HIPAA) frowns on our data crossing other people's servers. An enterprise-focused Slack equivalent, hosted on client-owned hardware and with a focus on regulatory compliance, could have eaten a huge chunk of the market.

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