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I'm wondering if it's worth uninstalling Office and reinstalling. If it uses the App Store update mechanism instead of Microsoft Autoupdate I would prefer it. A

I'm wondering if it's worth uninstalling Office and reinstalling. If it uses the App Store update mechanism instead of Microsoft Autoupdate I would prefer it. Autoupdate presents a window almost every time a launch an Office application.

TMWNN 8y ago
Microsoft AutoUpdate used to pop up, but lately the updating has happened in the background and I haven't seen any window. Because of that I don't want to install the App Store version, because it seems like any obtrusive update (one that requires my attention) is more likely to occur in that venue.
- zapzupnz 8y ago
  If you have the App Store set to allow automatic updates, you should never see anything - it will always happen in the background.
nicky0 8y ago
And half the time Autoupdate just wants to update itself!
- zapzupnz 8y ago
  s/half/nearly every time Then again, Apple's not immune to this. Nine times out of ten, Software Update for Windows has an urgent update for Software Update for Windows.
  - coherentpony 8y ago
    Yep. It only happens when the date changes.
- acranox 8y ago
  I went so long between using Word that auto update couldn’t update itself anymore. I guess the old version wasn’t compatible with whatever happened in the last year. So I had to go manually download an update package for the AutoUpdater so that I could find out there wasn’t any updates for Word. Awesome.
npunt 8y ago
Also, the App Store version is going to be a bit more sandboxed. I just replaced the regular with the App Store version and it went without a hitch. Just needed keychain access to Microsoft identity, and a login to Live.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  Interestingly, I'm not seeing much of a difference in the two. It seems that the non-App Store version was sandboxed as well, and both have a long list of ways they "poke through" the sandboxing model.
ld00d 8y ago
My favorite is when autoupdate is done updating, it runs a check to see if anything needs to be updated, and then it reports to me that there's nothing to update.
- FajitaNachos 8y ago
  I thought it was just me...
- Arn_Thor 8y ago
  Apple software does the same on Windows..
  - gaius 8y ago
    I got my iTunes on Windows via Microsoft’s App Store ironically. It’s seemingly the only way to get iCloud working properly on Windows, they share certain common components.
brianpgordon 8y ago
You can disable autoupdate and manually check for updates occasionally. Also, any time an application is available from both inside and outside the App Store I always prefer the outside one. The sandboxing that the App Store imposes is a massive pain. There's also no reason in my mind that Apple deserves a fat slice of my license payment.
- FajitaNachos 8y ago
  Who ever manually checks for updates on the 20+ apps they have installed?
  - brianpgordon 8y ago
    It's not something you have to do every day. For Office I check for updates every couple of months. It makes little difference to be a bit behind the latest release.
  - angry_octet 8y ago
    Who doesn't?! Don't you feel a bit ... dirty?
- illumin8 8y ago
  I automatically prefer the App Store one because: - I know it will be updated automatically - Sandboxing prevents many dark patterns that apps use to sell advertisers data
  - brianpgordon 8y ago
    Funny you should mention updates. The problem is when the developer wants to keep adding features and release a paid upgrade to make that possible. If you bought through the app store, you're going to have to buy the new version all over again, because there's no way for the developer to offer an upgrade discount. As for sandboxing, yes it does prevent unscrupulous apps from doing shady things, but it also prevents apps from doing their jobs. The MacOS image viewer that I use is a great app called Xee3. I made the mistake of buying it through the app store instead of through the developer's website. So now when I open an image and hit pagedown to browse to the next image in the directory, I have to click through a popup granting it access to read the directory, which is the app's way of working around the sandbox restrictions. So the app store version is strictly worse.
danieldk 8y ago
I just did that. Luckily I installed Office with Homebrew Cask, so removing was just brew cask uninstall microsoft-office away. For me the app store version has many benefits: - Microsoft sneaked OneDrive into the Office installer. I do not want OneDrive on my system - All the applications are sandboxed per app store requirements. - Indeed no more pesky Microsoft Autoupdate.
- marcc 8y ago
  I had Office 365 installed manually from Microsoft using their installer. I didn't even have to uninstall it, just downloaded from the App Store and it updated to that installation option now. I didn't have to log back in, or do anything other than enter my keychain password (many times) for it.
- vladvasiliu 8y ago
  You can choose which applications to install with the MS installer. For example I didn't have Outlook or OneDrive installed.

TMWNN 8y ago

Microsoft AutoUpdate used to pop up, but lately the updating has happened in the background and I haven't seen any window. Because of that I don't want to install the App Store version, because it seems like any obtrusive update (one that requires my attention) is more likely to occur in that venue.

zapzupnz 8y ago
If you have the App Store set to allow automatic updates, you should never see anything - it will always happen in the background.

nicky0 8y ago

And half the time Autoupdate just wants to update itself!

zapzupnz 8y ago
s/half/nearly every time Then again, Apple's not immune to this. Nine times out of ten, Software Update for Windows has an urgent update for Software Update for Windows.
- coherentpony 8y ago
  Yep. It only happens when the date changes.
acranox 8y ago
I went so long between using Word that auto update couldn’t update itself anymore. I guess the old version wasn’t compatible with whatever happened in the last year. So I had to go manually download an update package for the AutoUpdater so that I could find out there wasn’t any updates for Word. Awesome.

npunt 8y ago

Also, the App Store version is going to be a bit more sandboxed. I just replaced the regular with the App Store version and it went without a hitch. Just needed keychain access to Microsoft identity, and a login to Live.

saagarjha 8y ago
Interestingly, I'm not seeing much of a difference in the two. It seems that the non-App Store version was sandboxed as well, and both have a long list of ways they "poke through" the sandboxing model.

ld00d 8y ago

My favorite is when autoupdate is done updating, it runs a check to see if anything needs to be updated, and then it reports to me that there's nothing to update.

FajitaNachos 8y ago
I thought it was just me...
Arn_Thor 8y ago
Apple software does the same on Windows..
- gaius 8y ago
  I got my iTunes on Windows via Microsoft’s App Store ironically. It’s seemingly the only way to get iCloud working properly on Windows, they share certain common components.

brianpgordon 8y ago

You can disable autoupdate and manually check for updates occasionally. Also, any time an application is available from both inside and outside the App Store I always prefer the outside one. The sandboxing that the App Store imposes is a massive pain. There's also no reason in my mind that Apple deserves a fat slice of my license payment.

FajitaNachos 8y ago
Who ever manually checks for updates on the 20+ apps they have installed?
- brianpgordon 8y ago
  It's not something you have to do every day. For Office I check for updates every couple of months. It makes little difference to be a bit behind the latest release.
- angry_octet 8y ago
  Who doesn't?! Don't you feel a bit ... dirty?
illumin8 8y ago
I automatically prefer the App Store one because: - I know it will be updated automatically - Sandboxing prevents many dark patterns that apps use to sell advertisers data
- brianpgordon 8y ago
  Funny you should mention updates. The problem is when the developer wants to keep adding features and release a paid upgrade to make that possible. If you bought through the app store, you're going to have to buy the new version all over again, because there's no way for the developer to offer an upgrade discount. As for sandboxing, yes it does prevent unscrupulous apps from doing shady things, but it also prevents apps from doing their jobs. The MacOS image viewer that I use is a great app called Xee3. I made the mistake of buying it through the app store instead of through the developer's website. So now when I open an image and hit pagedown to browse to the next image in the directory, I have to click through a popup granting it access to read the directory, which is the app's way of working around the sandbox restrictions. So the app store version is strictly worse.

danieldk 8y ago

I just did that. Luckily I installed Office with Homebrew Cask, so removing was just brew cask uninstall microsoft-office away. For me the app store version has many benefits: - Microsoft sneaked OneDrive into the Office installer. I do not want OneDrive on my system - All the applications are sandboxed per app store requirements. - Indeed no more pesky Microsoft Autoupdate.

marcc 8y ago
I had Office 365 installed manually from Microsoft using their installer. I didn't even have to uninstall it, just downloaded from the App Store and it updated to that installation option now. I didn't have to log back in, or do anything other than enter my keychain password (many times) for it.
vladvasiliu 8y ago
You can choose which applications to install with the MS installer. For example I didn't have Outlook or OneDrive installed.