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MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry

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Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry

#451

Post by ilyt »

dustedcodes wrote: post #6

I have no skin in the game, but even I am starting to think the obvious thing here: Apple and Google own the entire mobile OS market. They could literally destroy Microsoft if they started to hugely degrade the experience of Microsoft products on iOS and Android with dark patterns a la Microsoft. But they don't. So far they were competing by making their own products better. Microsoft needs to think hard how hostile…

> I don't get Microsoft, have they no pride or desire to become a great company? Have they just become content to be an old corporate software house who only manages to keep users through dark patterns and anti-competitive behaviour because they have given up on making products which people enjoy to use?

They were always that, thru entirety of their history they have used anticompetitive practices on any chance they could.

Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry

#452

Post by balls187 »

I dislike applications ignoring my preferences.

Like on ios, opening a link from the youtube app asks if I want to open the link in Chrome, despite not having chrome on my phone.

Or that links inside Google Calendar first hit a google url before going to the actual url (Outlook has the same nonsense).

Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry

#453

Post by dustedcodes »

ubermonkey wrote: post #342
dustedcodes wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In my experience, for any serious work you'll want to use the native apps. Don't you see how absurd that is in 2023? It's like me saying "Online shops are nice in a pinch, but I advise folks to think of them primarily as viewing goods. In my experience, for any serious shopping you'll want to visit the bricks and mortar shop"

That's an absurd comparison. Web tools are always going to be weak vs. locally executing tools. I've never seen one that I prefer to a native equivalent.

> Web tools are always going to be weak vs. locally executing tools. I've never seen one that I prefer to a native equivalent.

Sure, that's a fact which I don't dispute, but that doesn't mean that writing a word document in your browser should be such a bad experience that you really just want to use the web version for viewing documents, which is the absurd thing to which I responded. See, what you say is true, but that doesn't necessarily negate my point if you can agree?

Word is not Photoshop, I expect the web version to be powerful enough to get serious writing done via it.

Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry

#454

Post by coffeeling »

wkat4242 wrote: post #94
AraceliHarker wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simply put, people don't love Edge as much as they love Chrome. The browser bundled with Windows 11 is naturally Edge, but users who use Chrome install Chrome of their own volition, so forcing them to open links in Edge is extremely annoying.

I don't use either chrome or edge but why would I use a clone instead of the real thing? I never understood why Microsoft thought cloning chrome was a good thing for adoption. Edge is just chrome now but with some annoying bloat like the coupon pop-ups and pay later scams.

Edge was, initially, Chrome but degoogled and it had (and still has) a lot of great UI innovations, like a vertical tab strip that's just right. Their wide use of hovering menus that can be pinned to become sidebars is honestly good stuff.

Of course, that's UI design, they are worse for privacy than Chrome, and the UI advantages begin to slip by the aggressive introduction of all the bloatware in the world. The browser's never quite been free of dark patterns either (new tab page's search field as one of the more glaring examples).

Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry

#455

Post by makeitdouble »

mxuribe wrote: post #427

I can't believe i'm about to suggest this... But, why doesn't Firefox start trying to curry the favor of large enterprises? By this, i mean, that maybe firefox could make a campaign to reach out to enterprise on how good FF could be for the enterprise...In essence try to win the hearts and minds of both IT admins and their senior leaders in the enterprise!?! (Instead of doing all manner of distractive efforts that ma…

Large enterprises means, the people deciding what goes on the work machines aren't the people using them. And they'll have incentives that are fundamentally different from their users (MS offering a bundle price for all their service will help them more than firefox being cheaper to administer for instance)

Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry

#456

Post by nickjj »

CharlesW wrote: post #294
nickjj wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The calendar schedule not being revealed is a just a privacy option, each person must opt-in to share the exact meeting details. We've done this as far as I know. We also added each other to our directory. I can see the details of other team mate's calendars in the full view but this does not show up in the mini-view when you add a guest to an event. With Google, when you create a new event and put in a user's emai…

> With MS' calendar all you see is a red block of color around the times they are not available. Only by default, which I believe your org can change. You have complete control over this for your calendar, as does everyone else. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/share-your-calend... > When I click into an email the title remains bold and the inbox count doesn't decrease. Also configurable.

The sharing aspect has already been done. It still doesn't show the details in the mini-view where you insert the person's name as a guest which is the most important time to see such information.

You just see a big chunk of red with no details. You don't even see things like "busy". It's just a solid red color.

Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry

#457

Post by whimsicalism »

thesuitonym wrote: post #328
NikolaNovak wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree with your premise. I have an iPhone (forced upon me by work) and it's ridiculous how many links still try to open in safari or Apple maps. I've tried to configure it for years and I've literally uninstalled Apple maps, but half the time iPhone keeps wanting me to reinstall it when I click a link or address. And a lot of url links open in safari instead of chrome or Firefox. Same with many other things - I…

You sound like a person who never even tried. Open Settings > Safari > Default Browser App, and select the app you want. It's really that easy.

Is this true for Maps and most critically Voice Assistants?

How do I get Siri to navigate using Google Maps? How do I replace Siri with a different voice assistant?

You can't for either of those questions.

Nevermind that changing the browser doesn't actually change jack because Apple doesn't allow competition in the browser engine space.

All in all, it is just hard for me to take seriously an opinion saying that Apple allows for unrestrained competition on its devices and Microsoft is the big bad in this space. Historically, maybe true - but not even close to true now imo.

Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry

#458

Post by balls187 »

dustedcodes wrote: post #6

I have no skin in the game, but even I am starting to think the obvious thing here: Apple and Google own the entire mobile OS market. They could literally destroy Microsoft if they started to hugely degrade the experience of Microsoft products on iOS and Android with dark patterns a la Microsoft. But they don't. So far they were competing by making their own products better. Microsoft needs to think hard how hostile…

Google and Apple do utilize dark patterns, as does Samsung, and Dell, and pretty much every other major device manufacturer.

Microsoft just really abused it bundling in IE and was penalized hard for it.

These other players have learned to push the limits of anti-competitive behavior while maintaining a plausible defense against government action.

Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry

#459

Post by [deleted] »

dustedcodes wrote: post #6

I have no skin in the game, but even I am starting to think the obvious thing here: Apple and Google own the entire mobile OS market. They could literally destroy Microsoft if they started to hugely degrade the experience of Microsoft products on iOS and Android with dark patterns a la Microsoft. But they don't. So far they were competing by making their own products better. Microsoft needs to think hard how hostile…

[deleted]

Re: MSFT is forcing Outlook and Teams to open links in Edge and IT admins are angry

#460

Post by coffeeling »

toyg wrote: post #287
AraceliHarker wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simply put, people don't love Edge as much as they love Chrome. The browser bundled with Windows 11 is naturally Edge, but users who use Chrome install Chrome of their own volition, so forcing them to open links in Edge is extremely annoying.

As annoying as for Edge-loving people who then buy a mobile phone and are then forced to "open their links" in Safari or Chrome. But to be honest, it's mostly the other way around: people live on phones, and when they have to interact with desktops, they pick the browser that integrates with their phones in the most seamless way. Which means, inevitably, the browser picked by their mobile-OS vendor, since there is li…

Android actually lets you live without even having a default browser. It's great since you can use multiple browsers in place of multiple browser profiles. Apps will just ask what browser to open the link in. It's great.
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