Introducing a SharePoint app bar that features global navigation

Clint Lechner I cannot speak for others, but my comments, however one chooses to view them, have less to do with the introduction and advancement of "features" and more to do with Microsoft's inability to recognize their one-size fits all approach is flawed. I'm not arguing that the introduction, existence and use of this nav bar is pointless for one, some or many. My concerns run much deeper than this.

I struggle to understand/comprehend how or why any entity providing a service to its customer base considers it an acceptable practice to introduce something NEW in an "on" or "active" state and, feature depending, provide no, one or multiple ways of de-activating it, temporarily or permanently, for those who deem it unneeded, unnecessary or those who may want/need a little more time to understand and/or determine its relevancy and how its integration into their portfolio will affect other aspects of the environment (I.e., customizations). It's as if engineers at Microsoft have a dartboard "of choices" in which to offer the subscriber - and we are forced to accept whatever the outcome is. I've stated in many other posts, if you can dream up a way to make it happen, consideration must be given to make it not happen.

Additionally, this mention of "temporary" causes me further concern -- what is coming our way (in October) that we should prepare ourselves for? What will Microsoft wow us with then? I'm sure we'll find out a week or two out. I've marked this in my calendar (because I hate surprises).

For those environments with dedicated resources directed at monitoring, reviewing and vetting any/all Microsoft service introductions, changes, etc., this may be "no big deal", we'll just inject some custom code into the platform to hide, disable, etc. Let's not forget this fluffy Microsoft cloud was originally crafted for those little companies needing the same technology (functions) as the big companies...security, storage, email, chat, etc., and yet all Microsoft seems to focus on now is the larger entities wanting boundless and endless navigation, sharing and collaboration -- and the fluff that goes along with it...most of which is USELESS and UNNECESSARY for the many small, single facility, departments of "one" (IT, HR, etc.), companies that exist today. 

Lastly, all one has to do is pay a visit to the many UserVoice sites that Microsoft identifies for each of their services and it's clear their emphasis is placed upon annoying little "features" (nav bar) instead of critical "functions" (PDF integration).