4 ms·

Microsoft has been dismantling the desktop UX for me over the past few years. I think they’re migrating the entire UI into the browser. The Office macOS UI appe

by jmaker 3y ago

Microsoft has been dismantling the desktop UX for me over the past few years. I think they’re migrating the entire UI into the browser. The Office macOS UI appears and feels substantially worse to me than its Windows counterpart. I had to migrate from Windows to macOS because I was no longer feeling comfortable on Windows. My UX with the Apple office suite is by far better. Put formally, the set difference between the features of Word and Excel and the features of Pages and Numbers is empty for my use cases. Same with PowerPoint and Keynote. Outlook used to be good, a proper PIM, it never had been excellent, but it used to be good, even a decade ago. The only thing I regret now is that I’d extended my Microsoft 365 by three years before I realized what they’re up to.

donmcronald 3y ago
> Microsoft has been dismantling the desktop UX for me over the past few years. I think they’re migrating the entire UI into the browser. I think it's more about trapping you in the MS365 silo than anything. They want all your data in the cloud because it makes it makes it non-portable. I think the big push they'll make after the desktop apps are replaced will be about data governance because it let's them increase lock-in. First they'll make a 100% online workflow a possibility. Next they'll convince businesses to abandon local files because it's "too risky". Then they'll start locking down everything that could be used for "data theft", including copy / paste. At that point they effectively own your data. And it's not far fetched for them to lock down things like copy / paste. I think that's why there's been a big push for TPM and things like Passwordless. It's a solid base for authenticated / authorized actions. Yeah, they'll use it for authenticating to websites first, but there's no reason a similar system can't be used to support signed / authorized actions between apps. So, when you copy text, it doesn't go straight onto the clipboard. Instead, the office app uses a TPM managed key to send a signed request to MS365. The TPM will have a key enrolled for office apps and will only encrypt/sign for trusted (think code signing) office apps, so Microsoft knows the request came from an official office app. You'll be logged in, so MS can check if you're authorized to copy the content to the clipboard. The public half of your TPM managed key will be stored in your MS365 account. If you're authorized to copy content to the clipboard, MS will encrypt it with your public key and send it back. Your clipboard will have an encrypted copy of the text. When you go to paste, the receiving app will need to ask the TPM to decrypt the payload and (remember) the TPM will only let the key be used for a specific set of trusted apps, so the copied text will never touch an app that's not authorized. Think of taking Passwordless, adding a TPM as a requirement, and using it for a workflow of app actions rather than auth actions. That's where we're headed IMO.
- chinabot 3y ago
  100% afree, its all about lock in these days and I'm so over it
- AnonC 3y ago
  I fully agree that this is all about a permanent lock-in (as mentioned in my other comment, though not in as much detail). It doesn’t seem like companies bother much. As long as there are some “this is free”, “this is cheap” and “this just works better” promises, they’ll just go with it.
- delfinom 3y ago
  The problem for most businesses in the US outside the bubble of big industry, is internet fucking sucks in the US. I'm at a manufacturer in the US in the NYC metro area, we pay $3k/month for 50 mbps guaranteed fiber internet (which we fully saturate). The upgrade to 100mbps was priced at $15k/month from the only provider in the area (used to be independent, then Optimum, and now all owned by the Altice monopoly) It's a weird path Microsoft is on but I guess if only they want to knee cap their potential customer base long term, then :shrug:

by jmaker 3y ago

donmcronald 3y ago

> Microsoft has been dismantling the desktop UX for me over the past few years. I think they’re migrating the entire UI into the browser. I think it's more about trapping you in the MS365 silo than anything. They want all your data in the cloud because it makes it makes it non-portable. I think the big push they'll make after the desktop apps are replaced will be about data governance because it let's them increase lock-in. First they'll make a 100% online workflow a possibility. Next they'll convince businesses to abandon local files because it's "too risky". Then they'll start locking down everything that could be used for "data theft", including copy / paste. At that point they effectively own your data. And it's not far fetched for them to lock down things like copy / paste. I think that's why there's been a big push for TPM and things like Passwordless. It's a solid base for authenticated / authorized actions. Yeah, they'll use it for authenticating to websites first, but there's no reason a similar system can't be used to support signed / authorized actions between apps. So, when you copy text, it doesn't go straight onto the clipboard. Instead, the office app uses a TPM managed key to send a signed request to MS365. The TPM will have a key enrolled for office apps and will only encrypt/sign for trusted (think code signing) office apps, so Microsoft knows the request came from an official office app. You'll be logged in, so MS can check if you're authorized to copy the content to the clipboard. The public half of your TPM managed key will be stored in your MS365 account. If you're authorized to copy content to the clipboard, MS will encrypt it with your public key and send it back. Your clipboard will have an encrypted copy of the text. When you go to paste, the receiving app will need to ask the TPM to decrypt the payload and (remember) the TPM will only let the key be used for a specific set of trusted apps, so the copied text will never touch an app that's not authorized. Think of taking Passwordless, adding a TPM as a requirement, and using it for a workflow of app actions rather than auth actions. That's where we're headed IMO.

chinabot 3y ago
100% afree, its all about lock in these days and I'm so over it
AnonC 3y ago
I fully agree that this is all about a permanent lock-in (as mentioned in my other comment, though not in as much detail). It doesn’t seem like companies bother much. As long as there are some “this is free”, “this is cheap” and “this just works better” promises, they’ll just go with it.
delfinom 3y ago
The problem for most businesses in the US outside the bubble of big industry, is internet fucking sucks in the US. I'm at a manufacturer in the US in the NYC metro area, we pay $3k/month for 50 mbps guaranteed fiber internet (which we fully saturate). The upgrade to 100mbps was priced at $15k/month from the only provider in the area (used to be independent, then Optimum, and now all owned by the Altice monopoly) It's a weird path Microsoft is on but I guess if only they want to knee cap their potential customer base long term, then :shrug: