2 ms·

MS software I use by choice and prefer to all alternatives I've tried: * Word * Excel * Honestly, Teams * Exchange / Outlook, for group scheduling MS softw

MS software I use by choice and prefer to all alternatives I've tried: * Word * Excel * Honestly, Teams * Exchange / Outlook, for group scheduling MS software I use because I have the most experience with it, and am thus more productive than I'd be with something else: * SQL Server

lostlogin 4y ago
When you say ‘Word’, do you mean the app, the online one, or the Teams thing? They all behave differently and aren’t fully compatible. It’s very frustrating how formatting changes between the Words. I’m bound by a regulator to format a certain way and it’s brutal when using a full MS stack.
- ubermonkey 4y ago
  I really do hate is MSFT's naming conventions AND their propensity for calling two different products by the same name for marketing reasons. I mean Microsoft Word, the word processing tool that runs as a native app on one's computer. The degree to which the online or Teams versions do not play nice with the "real" one is a HUGE own-goal by MSFT and reason enough to avoid them if you can. If you're going to have an online tool called Word, it damn well needs to work EXACTLY LIKE THE REAL VERSION.
  - zo1 4y ago
    I've used both extensively and interchangeably. The fact that Microsoft got "Word" running in the web, and embedded inside another application, and made it all work mostly seamlessly is downright amazing. I've yet to encounter any issues with formatting between the three, and am constantly surprised at their ability to be consistent. Now where it all goes pear-shaped, is not the technical side of it all, it's the UX and marketing teams that got involved. One big example is the "save" dialog that's been butchered beyond describing (even in the standalone desktop version of Word) in order to promote OneDrive and other microsoft offerings.
    - lostlogin 4y ago
      My issues: Pictures, headers and footers, the amount one can fit in a page (varies between versions). What will happen to the Teams version if I download it, edit in the native app and save? Downloading a lot of files off Teams usually fails and gives a load of html files. The ‘integration’ nag for one drive which can’t be dismissed or enabled but seems to work. It’s an absolute mess and I’m very surprised to encounter someone who finds it works well.
  - Dalewyn 4y ago
    You might be (not) pleased to know that Windows 10 and Windows 11 both identify internally as NT 10.0.
    - ubermonkey 4y ago
      I'm definitely not surprised.
dathinab 4y ago
> Honestly, Teams > Exchange / Outlook, for group scheduling Are you sure? We are a ~15 person company and there isn't a (work) day where someone doesn't have problems with teams. I can't say for sure because I hadn't used it a lot but jitsi seemed way better and google while having far worse UX was more reliable. Like screen sharing stopping working (without any error or anything just stand bild) during a meeting is pretty common, or abstruse things like one time the chat was just missing until I restarted it or another time there was a partition of rooms until everyone left the meeting and then reentered it again. Similar problems with outlook are also not that uncommon (but more rare), like e.g. calendars not syncing, the only things really speaking for it (compared to some other good team calendar applications) IMHO is it's integration with teams... which is worth something, I mean it's pretty convenient.
- ubermonkey 4y ago
  We're about the same size, and don't have issues with it really at all, but we use it only for: * Calling each other; * Ad-hoc meetings internally, because our normal meeting platform has become cumbersome (GoTo); * IMs I see it'll do other stuff, but we're not really using those aspects. And I should also be super clear that I'm not saying Teams is actually GOOD. I have just found it to be better than any of the alternatives I've seen or used. That's also very much how I feel about Outlook/Exchange. I mean, look, I'm a Mac guy. I use the Mac mail client almost but not quite exclusively; I also have an RD session up to a Windows VM all day every day for other reasons, and run Outlook there. The gap that drives me to Outlook/Exchange is scheduling. It just works, and works in a way that nothing else I've seen approaches -- even when messaging people outside our org. I wish Apple calendaring was this good. I really do. But it's not.

lostlogin 4y ago

When you say ‘Word’, do you mean the app, the online one, or the Teams thing? They all behave differently and aren’t fully compatible. It’s very frustrating how formatting changes between the Words. I’m bound by a regulator to format a certain way and it’s brutal when using a full MS stack.

ubermonkey 4y ago
I really do hate is MSFT's naming conventions AND their propensity for calling two different products by the same name for marketing reasons. I mean Microsoft Word, the word processing tool that runs as a native app on one's computer. The degree to which the online or Teams versions do not play nice with the "real" one is a HUGE own-goal by MSFT and reason enough to avoid them if you can. If you're going to have an online tool called Word, it damn well needs to work EXACTLY LIKE THE REAL VERSION.
- zo1 4y ago
  I've used both extensively and interchangeably. The fact that Microsoft got "Word" running in the web, and embedded inside another application, and made it all work mostly seamlessly is downright amazing. I've yet to encounter any issues with formatting between the three, and am constantly surprised at their ability to be consistent. Now where it all goes pear-shaped, is not the technical side of it all, it's the UX and marketing teams that got involved. One big example is the "save" dialog that's been butchered beyond describing (even in the standalone desktop version of Word) in order to promote OneDrive and other microsoft offerings.
  - lostlogin 4y ago
    My issues: Pictures, headers and footers, the amount one can fit in a page (varies between versions). What will happen to the Teams version if I download it, edit in the native app and save? Downloading a lot of files off Teams usually fails and gives a load of html files. The ‘integration’ nag for one drive which can’t be dismissed or enabled but seems to work. It’s an absolute mess and I’m very surprised to encounter someone who finds it works well.
- Dalewyn 4y ago
  You might be (not) pleased to know that Windows 10 and Windows 11 both identify internally as NT 10.0.
  - ubermonkey 4y ago
    I'm definitely not surprised.

dathinab 4y ago

> Honestly, Teams > Exchange / Outlook, for group scheduling Are you sure? We are a ~15 person company and there isn't a (work) day where someone doesn't have problems with teams. I can't say for sure because I hadn't used it a lot but jitsi seemed way better and google while having far worse UX was more reliable. Like screen sharing stopping working (without any error or anything just stand bild) during a meeting is pretty common, or abstruse things like one time the chat was just missing until I restarted it or another time there was a partition of rooms until everyone left the meeting and then reentered it again. Similar problems with outlook are also not that uncommon (but more rare), like e.g. calendars not syncing, the only things really speaking for it (compared to some other good team calendar applications) IMHO is it's integration with teams... which is worth something, I mean it's pretty convenient.

ubermonkey 4y ago
We're about the same size, and don't have issues with it really at all, but we use it only for: * Calling each other; * Ad-hoc meetings internally, because our normal meeting platform has become cumbersome (GoTo); * IMs I see it'll do other stuff, but we're not really using those aspects. And I should also be super clear that I'm not saying Teams is actually GOOD. I have just found it to be better than any of the alternatives I've seen or used. That's also very much how I feel about Outlook/Exchange. I mean, look, I'm a Mac guy. I use the Mac mail client almost but not quite exclusively; I also have an RD session up to a Windows VM all day every day for other reasons, and run Outlook there. The gap that drives me to Outlook/Exchange is scheduling. It just works, and works in a way that nothing else I've seen approaches -- even when messaging people outside our org. I wish Apple calendaring was this good. I really do. But it's not.