I like the new Microsoft. The cloud-first, mobile-first strategy worked, and Office is cross-platform — yay!
Well, mostly cross-platform, Visio is only available on Windows for some weird or financial reason.
But today’s gripe isn’t about the lack of Visio on macOS. It’s about Microsoft Update.
The Gripe
With the many available cloud-based document solutions and Markdown's rise, I don’t find myself needing Microsoft Office too frequently. Presently the need for Office is with my grad studies and resumes.
Last year I began using Safari as my default browser. But some sites don’t work on Safari at all or work best on a Chromium-based browser.
Google has enough information about me, so I switched from Chrome to Microsoft Edge — the horror!
Microsoft Internet Explorer (Destroyer) was famously terrible, but Edge is based on Chromium, and it rocks. Edge is oddly promoted.
Microsoft Edge is the best browser for shopping
Microsoft Edge is the only browser with built-in tools to help you save time and money when shopping online.
Microsoft AutoUpdate is an application that runs in the background and checks for updates. There is an oddity in how it handles Microsoft Edge updates.
There is a conflict when AutoUpdate tries to update Edge leading to an annoying user experience.
The user receives a notification from AutoUpdate
The user clicks on the notification to open it.
The user clicks on the Update button for Edge.
The user receives an error dialog.
🤬 The user gets frustrated and annoyed.
The Solution
1️⃣ At a minimum, the user should be given a choice to “Close and Update Edge.”
2️⃣ Better, the Office team should work with the Edge team and avoid this problem altogether. For sure, it is not difficult to take the next logical step instead of breaking and leaving the user wondering what’s going on.
3️⃣ The solution is to submit an “I don’t like something” via an Office application Help menu item.
As an aside, check out how Visual Studio Code supports its community to make the product better. To be fair, VS Code is a developer tool and not an office product.
References
Microsoft Community - Edge
Microsoft Community - 365 and Office
Microsoft User Voice - Word for Mac