Microsoft
Microsoft
After some time passed and emotional distance I would like to mildly reinforce my concerns:
Now the Windows team also renamed their rings to channels with only mild changes, the break between Product teams is now visible.
Microsoft is one company. But each product team has its own agenda.
Consistency matters. I am sorry to say to use these words - as they reminds me to another thing being even more viable.
Office 365 "start pages" - if only options, feedback, account could be located the same way in Outlook as in all other apps. Outlook was always different from the others - see Outlook 2007 / 2010 etc, not mentioning the other details.
Your naming agenda
It is clear that there is no real similarity between channel names, except Windows has "beta" and Office has "beta" but they have completely different target audiences.
comparing channel names by pure audience targeting definition
| Windows | Office |
| Dev | Beta |
| Beta | Current Channel preview |
| Release (SAC) | Monthly (narrow minded SAC Enterprise, but doesn't apply for Home users, such it is the SAC equivalent) |
| - | SAC Enterprise Preview (slowest pace preview) |
| LTSC | SAC Enterprise (slowest pace) |
For usual admins and customers - users - mostly do not care -
These little things are a horror. People outside the tech, as we are here, will not memorize channel names as we do - I see even Insiders struggling as we had about 4-5 channel renamings since 2015, afaik,
Then again consistency:
- I keep explaining users what is the difference between Outlook 2016 and Outlook 365, and there is a big difference
- why the MAPI Setting is only available in and from Control Panel, not from Settings app
- why they won't find it as Outlook 365 but only as Mail or Outlook 2016, while in fact having Office / Outlook 365 installed.
- why, after 5 years of Windows 10, and feedback hub entries galore, they cannot find this particular setting from Windows (Start) Search, but only after opening the declared Legacy Control panel, which they should refrain to use for sake of Settings app and better readability on high res screens. These little wonders.
You might call me nitpicking, I am. Because it is so hard to explain to the users why things are not as expected, after all the SaaS and continuous modernization.
Follow your own changes and make them complete.
If I had a magic wand: same CHANNEL names for Windows and Office, at least, at best fitting with the scheme of other products like
- Terminal
- Powershell
- .net
- Server Products
- Powertoys
etc.
On the top of that, how it can get worse:
Did you even notice that on Android there is a Microsoft Launcher? It is an amazing and versatile thing I don't want to miss.
There is a
- Microsoft Launcher
- Microsoft Launcher Beta (comparingly to Windows 10 beta channel)
- Microsoft Launcher preview (comparingly Windows 10 dev channel, just named otherwise)
Given the download numbers which user shall understand which is which from the name.
I might also guess ok there is a launcher and a preview of it. Is the preview still in devevelopment or was it a seperate app no longer in dev now that we have the release and a optin beta.
As most having the Microsoft Launcher you can - optin / out into Beta (google feature) while Laucher Preview is a complete own package and own launcher, technically seperated from Launcher and Launcher beta which is basically one.
I hope you get my point. Same with the many office channels with even different namings, differing from Windows.
KISS keep it simple - I am afraid Office channels need a better consistent naming, sooner than later before the current one settle for some months.
Tara_RothDaveGuenthner what do you think?
