4 ms·

It looks like your license only allows for the web version, so your university probably isn't spending that much for it. You'd get the same message on Windows t

by vondur 15d ago

It looks like your license only allows for the web version, so your university probably isn't spending that much for it. You'd get the same message on Windows too.

nrub 15d ago
I think this overlooks the full picture. It's not about the this one pin prick relating to their license. It's that working with Microsoft in any capacity is filled with paper cuts like this, annoyances, bad design, and overt errors. Every single day. They're a User hostile company and they make a buck by doing just enough to convince non-experts to keep their enterprise licenses.
- internet101010 15d ago
  Windows 11 has been out for like 6 years and they still haven't fixed a major File Explorer bug: after a few minutes of File Explorer being open the menu bar for the old File Explorer pops up underneath the new thing that replace the menu bar; none of the buttons on this weird artifact from the past work. It's just there. Re-open File Explorer and it goes away, until a few minutes later and it re-appears. Not as noticeable on light mode but a constant distracting reminder about how much Microslop sucks on dark mode.
  - WalterBright 15d ago
    Should have stayed with Windows 7!
- bunderbunder 15d ago
  Though, that's true of every single Microsoft-sized B2B-focused company I've ever encountered, as well as the one I once worked at. I honestly would not attribute it to malice. I would attribute it to the scale of the company and the nature of the business they're in. A behemoth this size naturally has the "left hand doesn't know what the right one is doing" problem on an unfathomable scale simply because it's far too big for any one person to keep track of more than a small fraction of everything. And then throw on top of it that they have a whole bunch of enterprise clients who can exert an incredible amount of pressure on individual decision makers. And there will never, ever be a Steve Jobs like figure who's willing to help them hold the line against that in the name of a sensible and coherent overall product vision because maintaining a sensible and coherent overall product vision does not generate positive ROI for this kind of company. Microsoft tried to have one several times during its "envious of Apple" days and every time the enterprise customers who actually supply their revenue responded by swatting them on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.
  - ghusto 14d ago
    Both are true. At a certain point, choosing to do the bear minimum when you know it's going to hurt users _is_ malice.
    - bunderbunder 14d ago
      It really isn’t. Not necessarily. Sometimes it’s just doing what you need to do to keep your job. If you have ever worked in a maybe organization like this you might have done that kind of thing yourself. You might not even have realized it at the time because you were so caught up in keeping your head down and surviving the bureaucracy.
bibstha 15d ago
Silly that the error message doesn't convey that, right? I recently got added to a company's Teams account as a guest. I do a bit of software contract work and have used Slack with no issue until now, this is what Teams show me: - Client says they added me already, but I have no email with an invite. Turns out I didn't have an account that had previously joined Teams with a personal account. - But even after I created a teams account, due to the order of events (added to corp account as guest, then created a teams account), I still don't have access and need to be readded. - I can't upload images on groups because I don't have OneDrive access, WTF? - I cannot download transcripts of meetings I join because I don't have permission. How bad can a software be? Really?
- BradBird 14d ago
  This is bad management, not bad software. It's just like everything non-apple. Android and Microsoft give you choice and potential value but it requires knowledge and setup. Apple gives you neither choice or value, but everything just "work$". People come to me saying I used windows and it sucked, and that's because they are comparing a 500 dollar Acer laptop with a 1500 Macbook Air with no knowlge on how to properly use Windows. Both have their market place, unfortunately the users with the least knowledge are the ones always complaining about Windows. And, let me tell you, when something is broken with their Mac, they also don't know what to do. See OP's post as a perfect example. They blame MS not their IT admin. It's the reason Apple calls their support Genius bar. They are trying to message out "Hey, you really are smart, we are just geniuses". Well, you're not.
bunderbunder 15d ago
I'm not so sure about that. For a while now I've worked at companies where PC users could use desktop Office but Mac users had to use the Web version. I think that Office for Mac might actually be a largely separate codebase - there are also significant feature differences between it and the PC version. Also, just quickly poking through their various enterprise plans (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/microsoft-365-plans-and-pricing https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/mic...), I found several that offered Web & Windows but not Mac, and none that only allowed editing on Web like you describe.
- BradBird 14d ago
  M365 F3 only allows editing on the web. E3-7 all allow editing on both Mac and Windows PCs.
henriquenunez 14d ago
It's not only web version, because it was working just fine a few months ago. And they are paying microsoft a lot. The whole financial, HR, marketing departments and even some research groups use "Teams" to communicate. It's unbeliveable.
- Scharkenberg 13d ago
  > it was working just fine a few months ago Admins can reallocate licenses of different types among accounts or change them completely. That it worked fine a few months ago means nothing. Your account currently doesn't have a desktop entitlement at all, be it macOS or Windows. Talk to your M365 admins and beware of lies they might tell you to cover up the truth.

by vondur 15d ago

It looks like your license only allows for the web version, so your university probably isn't spending that much for it. You'd get the same message on Windows too.

nrub 15d ago

I think this overlooks the full picture. It's not about the this one pin prick relating to their license. It's that working with Microsoft in any capacity is filled with paper cuts like this, annoyances, bad design, and overt errors. Every single day. They're a User hostile company and they make a buck by doing just enough to convince non-experts to keep their enterprise licenses.

internet101010 15d ago
Windows 11 has been out for like 6 years and they still haven't fixed a major File Explorer bug: after a few minutes of File Explorer being open the menu bar for the old File Explorer pops up underneath the new thing that replace the menu bar; none of the buttons on this weird artifact from the past work. It's just there. Re-open File Explorer and it goes away, until a few minutes later and it re-appears. Not as noticeable on light mode but a constant distracting reminder about how much Microslop sucks on dark mode.
- WalterBright 15d ago
  Should have stayed with Windows 7!
bunderbunder 15d ago
Though, that's true of every single Microsoft-sized B2B-focused company I've ever encountered, as well as the one I once worked at. I honestly would not attribute it to malice. I would attribute it to the scale of the company and the nature of the business they're in. A behemoth this size naturally has the "left hand doesn't know what the right one is doing" problem on an unfathomable scale simply because it's far too big for any one person to keep track of more than a small fraction of everything. And then throw on top of it that they have a whole bunch of enterprise clients who can exert an incredible amount of pressure on individual decision makers. And there will never, ever be a Steve Jobs like figure who's willing to help them hold the line against that in the name of a sensible and coherent overall product vision because maintaining a sensible and coherent overall product vision does not generate positive ROI for this kind of company. Microsoft tried to have one several times during its "envious of Apple" days and every time the enterprise customers who actually supply their revenue responded by swatting them on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.
- ghusto 14d ago
  Both are true. At a certain point, choosing to do the bear minimum when you know it's going to hurt users _is_ malice.
  - bunderbunder 14d ago
    It really isn’t. Not necessarily. Sometimes it’s just doing what you need to do to keep your job. If you have ever worked in a maybe organization like this you might have done that kind of thing yourself. You might not even have realized it at the time because you were so caught up in keeping your head down and surviving the bureaucracy.

bibstha 15d ago

Silly that the error message doesn't convey that, right? I recently got added to a company's Teams account as a guest. I do a bit of software contract work and have used Slack with no issue until now, this is what Teams show me: - Client says they added me already, but I have no email with an invite. Turns out I didn't have an account that had previously joined Teams with a personal account. - But even after I created a teams account, due to the order of events (added to corp account as guest, then created a teams account), I still don't have access and need to be readded. - I can't upload images on groups because I don't have OneDrive access, WTF? - I cannot download transcripts of meetings I join because I don't have permission. How bad can a software be? Really?

BradBird 14d ago
This is bad management, not bad software. It's just like everything non-apple. Android and Microsoft give you choice and potential value but it requires knowledge and setup. Apple gives you neither choice or value, but everything just "work$". People come to me saying I used windows and it sucked, and that's because they are comparing a 500 dollar Acer laptop with a 1500 Macbook Air with no knowlge on how to properly use Windows. Both have their market place, unfortunately the users with the least knowledge are the ones always complaining about Windows. And, let me tell you, when something is broken with their Mac, they also don't know what to do. See OP's post as a perfect example. They blame MS not their IT admin. It's the reason Apple calls their support Genius bar. They are trying to message out "Hey, you really are smart, we are just geniuses". Well, you're not.

bunderbunder 15d ago

I'm not so sure about that. For a while now I've worked at companies where PC users could use desktop Office but Mac users had to use the Web version. I think that Office for Mac might actually be a largely separate codebase - there are also significant feature differences between it and the PC version. Also, just quickly poking through their various enterprise plans (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/microsoft-365-plans-and-pricing https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/mic...), I found several that offered Web & Windows but not Mac, and none that only allowed editing on Web like you describe.

BradBird 14d ago
M365 F3 only allows editing on the web. E3-7 all allow editing on both Mac and Windows PCs.

henriquenunez 14d ago

It's not only web version, because it was working just fine a few months ago. And they are paying microsoft a lot. The whole financial, HR, marketing departments and even some research groups use "Teams" to communicate. It's unbeliveable.

Scharkenberg 13d ago
> it was working just fine a few months ago Admins can reallocate licenses of different types among accounts or change them completely. That it worked fine a few months ago means nothing. Your account currently doesn't have a desktop entitlement at all, be it macOS or Windows. Talk to your M365 admins and beware of lies they might tell you to cover up the truth.