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Rant to HN: Do Microsoft developers themselves use outlook?

5 points by noobermin ↗ HN
Sorry for the rant, but using outlook on the web has got to be one of the most frustrating web app experiences that have been forced on me. I've embarrassed myself professionally a number of times after the app and the phone app glitch out and send things I don't intend to. The thing is I know microsoft hires some of the brightest minds out there, and I shudder to think they themselves use outlook and are proud of it. Is this a situation where the microsoft gets to brag about housing people like Miguel de Icaza and Guido van Rossum but not have people with as sharp chops working on what has to be one of their main, most widely deployed software products?

3 comments

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ksec
Well, they also use Windows themselves for as long as Windows has existed. That is saying something.
bsilvereagle
> I shudder to think they themselves use outlook and are proud of it

From experience at other large tech companies (but not Microsoft) there is likely a repository of internal-only browser plugins that make these products useable. People will install these plugins very early in their tenure, forget about them over time, and then claim the product is great. Additionally, there will be a suite of features that will never leave “beta” but dramatically improve the UX that the public does not have access to.

If you’re not actively comparing the internal product to the external offering it’s very easy to fall into the trap of thinking the product is great.

daviddever23box
Don't use the browser version; stick with the desktop version on macOS or Windows.

if you're using the browser version on Linux or FreeBSD, for God's sake - go rant at the Thunderbird team for our mutual benefit.