Microsoft to unbundle Teams software in Europe to abate EU antitrust concerns
cnbc.com
cnbc.com
It then proceeds to try and set the default to auto-launch and request a Microsoft sign in at login.
This is aggressive, annoying and in at least to me comes off as desperate or in the least adwarey.
does this mean you can think of /some/ meetings you were unable to attend? I would assume that "doesn't work half the time" was slightly hyperbolic, and so it seems like your experience is roughly in line with the parent comment despite your response being worded like a rebuttal.
> maybe a minute of kill teams + restart.
lol, okay. so it's basically flawless.
>lol, okay. so it's basically flawless.
I never understand what this kind of snark is meant to do. I didn't say anything like that at all.
Microsoft is one of the wealthiest companies on this planet with decades upon decades of experience in software. Let's not pretend like their willingness to cut corners wherever they can and compromise on quality, as long as the profits keep coming in, is anything but an affront. Controlling the whole stack should make it easier to do this, but in reality monopolies have the opposite effect because capitalism has these averse incentives baked in. Yet another reason to bring back aggressive antitrust enforcement, i.e. break up big tech.
That's good, though temporarily, that means one more possibly simultaneously installed teams :)
https://i.imgur.com/ODn13Ux.png
The link points to an executable that dates from the latest update of the old version a few days back. I've only installed the new one today.
I went investigating a bit, and there are two installations, running from different paths.
https://i.imgur.com/TbBXw3N.png
Actually, the same thing seems to happen with Outlook, if you enable "new outlook".
One fun thing I've just noticed: the "new teams" toggle has gone away.
What about App Stores and API availability? What about constantly preferring and promoting first-party offers (required accounts, MS Edge, Bing, Apple iCloud)? All the platform leverage they're more or less starting to abuse to lock users into "services" only they can provide. THOSE are problems that are limiting competition and getting worse and worse. They're really, entirely; unapologetically holding users hostage and more or less forcibly extracting rent from them (hey, your iCloud is full!).
Yet the EU steps in in these what feel like token ways. A bit like the recent Apple move of ("We support right to repair ... at authorized service providers, for repairs we approve").
I know of the Digital Markets Act, but haven't yet seen a hint that it will limit rent-seeking by platform providers (worse yet: the idea has been floated that Apple may still be able to do it on third-party app stores, completely circumventing the point of the law, just like "legitimate interest" has for GDPR!).
I love my little EU and its general (verbal) attitude towards consumer and market protection. But there's a lot more talk than there is walk. I hope this will change at some point - the direction is still the right one, after all.
Can you share that idea? How can one use "legitimate interest" to circumvented GDPR legally?
I don't understand this point of view. We should be addressing all forms of anti-competitive behavior. This included. The fact that this is being addressed at all even though it's a "minor" (which is laughable, considering it's Microsoft, one of the biggest tech companies in the world) issue is an incredibly positive event. I look forward to further anti-competitive behavior being looked at, whether Microsoft or Google or whoever else.
Like a government going after tax evasion "we stopped Frank from claiming an air freshener in his car, so we're saving the economy!" while Facebook farms billions in profits offshore.
Fixing something small has the risk of creating a facades of activity/effectiveness when in reality its still 90% broken.
What makes you think that's happening? This is just one of multiple things the EU has done and is doing about anti-competitive behavior. The EU has been doing far more than the US on this front. Don't mistake US complacency with the EU's efforts. It feels like you want to let "lesser" evils go in favor of just the "big" ones. Don't you see how immoral and problematic that is?
> but realistically aren't particularly major
Your opinion and not fact. It seems quite major to me.
Note that in most jurisdictions promoting first party offers and bundling is not illegal, what is illegal is to use your monopoly in an area to push competitors out of another. Bundling free things with Office is a pretty clear example of this. Office has essentially a monopoly in enterprise office text documents, presentation software and spreadsheets
Promoting Edge in Windows is not such a clear case, Windows doesn't have a monopoly anymore if you account for phones and macos
iOS App Store shennenigans can always be argued that Apple doesn't have a monopoly in smartphones and smartphones application stores
I know all of this example should sound "obvious abusive behaviour" but you have to remember these things need to be proven in a court of law and if the defendant, even if 100% in the wrong, can drag out a case they will. Therefor it is not worth for the bureaucrats to chase them, it is easier to petition the legislators for more broad laws to make persecution easier first
https://www.androidauthority.com/eu-draft-law-uninstall-prei...
You can disable them - this stops the app running and will remove its icon, but it'll still use space.
Some system apps can't be disabled - many of these are critical system processes, but there are also some that are non-essential.
Like why EU GDP is stagnating compare to the USA.
I would be tempted to say this is because a lot of the iOS pitch is “trust Apple because you don’t trust the regulatory environment” whereas in places like Germany the regulatory trust is higher so that pitch sounds weaker.
That said, I have heard the "trust" version of the pitch from some VC types floating around UNLV and I find their trust in Apple to be perplexing.
Microsoft isn't or can't line the necessary wallets to play with the big boys, simply speaking. This means they don't get to enjoy the perks of Big Tech, but also get to enjoy not being lambasted along with them.