[kough]

When I was forced to use Lync (due to an acquisition) in 2014 it was absolutely fucking terrible. The OS X client failed to report online status correctly, couldn't participate in most group chats or video or audio calls, and crashed regularly. Also weirdly non-native UI. And, no linux client to speak of - for a startup like the one I worked for where many devs used linux, that was a nonstarter. Has the story improved since then? (Thankfully no longer have to deal with it since I quit that job a half year later)

[0x0]

LOL, "lync.exe" a.k.a. "Skype for Business".

1. The worst brand management this side of 1984. "Skype for Business" has nothing to do with Skype and the .exe is still called "lync.exe"

2. SDK: Trying to use the C# SDK for even simple tasks leaves your app deadlocking or spinning 100% CPU in threads you didn't create or throwing native exceptions that doesn't make any sense as they are referencing raw hex 0x12345678 pointers or COM objects you never even touched. And if you try to watchdog all that have fun with 5 orphaned lync.exe's claiming your USB audio/video device.

[spdustin]

Microsoft products are filled with references left behind by what I can only assume to be developers who were just hoping to get on a different product team after their next review.

SharePoint's virtual path for its SOAP services is "_vti_bin". VTI = Vermeer Technologies Incorporated, the makers of FrontPage and the FrontPage Server Extensions.

Then there was Groove (brought in Ray Ozzie's luggage) that was renamed SharePoint Workspace (groove.exe).

SharePoint Designer (which didn't actually have a visual designer in the 2013, and final, release) crashes when performing some operations in source files ... With an exception in the FPEDITAX.DLL (FrontPage Editor ActiveX).

Those can all almost be forgiven - they are like vestigial organs after each product evolved into something else.

Until you get to OneDrive. smh

[yuhong]

Until recently, the Sysinternals executables was signed with a Microsoft certificate but the drivers inside Process Explorer was still signed under the old pre-acquisition certificate (I think they actually even renewed it too)!

[bitJericho]

I knew OneDrive was going to be the punchline -_- So much wasted time.

[bbcbasic]

Can you or the GP explain?

[bitJericho]

OneDrive For Business is pretty much unusable:

https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/2ex10y/onedrive_f...

[douche]

That SDK is just awful. The sample applications don't even compile, and the documentation is woeful. Tends to make the Lync client leak memory like a sieve, to boot - which is loads of fun, since there is no way to ensure that anything gets cleaned up properly, not an IDisposable in sight.

If it wasn't such a huge PITA to find a compatible SIP library, or write one from scratch, I'd have dumped it long ago. Sadly, I've had to do enough with it that I'm probably an "expert" at it now...

[ethbro]

> Sadly, I've had to do enough with it that I'm probably an "expert" at it now...

I think this explains a lot of poorly designed but complex enterprise software (e.g. MS). People eventually learn to deal -> poor design becomes less of a pain point -> less incentive to fix issues.

[option_greek]

+1 for pointing out the useless slow grinding garbage this lync-skype chimera is.

[area51org]

Between the two I'd pick Slack, hands-down. Lync is awful, and I have to use it—so I use the Adium with the OCS plugin instead. It doesn't do audio calls or video, but it is stable and fast. (For video, hangouts are much better anyway.)

Slack? I use it, but I don't see the attraction. It's just another chat client with a couple of cute features. I'm really not clear on why the world seems so enamored with something that's really not much of an improvement on something we had in 1995.

[dasil003]

It's a huge practical improvement over IRC. The integrations are turn-key for most things, very powerful, and deep search integration, so it can become your one-stop shop for things. It realistically has the possibility to replace Dropbox and email for internal collaboration. The channels, groups, and notifications preferences make it possible to structure your team for maximum signal to noise across both desktop and mobile.

Saying that Slack is "just another chat client" is sort of like all the old arguments about how much more powerful PCs were than Macs because they have more features—it's ignoring the value of design and conceptual elegance, and the real impact that has on UX and productivity.

[area51org]

Every feature you mention was available in the '90s. I'm not saying Slack is bad, just that it's nothing impressive or innovative. The only surprising thing about it is that someone didn't make it sooner.

[asgardiator]

> The only surprising thing about it is that someone didn't make it sooner.

... is that not the hallmark of a great product?

[goldenkey]

Moreso that open source sprouts by necessity mostly. IRC buildbots and other integrations have been around forever. It's just that Slack paid for the integrations that really makes it shine. Money, and well the work->integrations it buys, really talks.

[astrostl]

UI/UX.

[dasil003]

> Every feature you mention was available in the '90s.

The fact that you could log irc transcripts, index them, give them a web interface, and write bots to chain things together is not the same feature as Slack integrations. If that is your bar for a feature, then we might as well give up trying to write innovative software, because it all uses the same opcodes anyway.

> I'm not saying Slack is bad, just that it's nothing impressive or innovative.

The attitude that a new product is not innovative because its features resemble features from past products leads to no logical conclusion except that nothing is innovative. Everything is based on previous ideas.

If a product were merely the sum of its features, then Apple would not be alive today.

[mitchty]

Lync actually starts for you? Mine just segfaults on startup. I've given up on it entirely.

[area51org]

Adium has a plugin available (OCS) that lets you connect. No video or audio, but if you just need IM to work, this'll do the job.

[mitchty]

Fortunately we have irc, lync is more used by managers to find out when people are available.

I'll have a look though thanks!

[yulaow]

You should see how much even people inside microsoft hate Lync.

[douche]

Fix it then. I heard a lot of sound and fury after the Skype acquisition, but it seems to have signified nothing.

[hvass]

So much this. We are currently using Lync and to quote you: absolutely fucking terrible.

[Pxtl]

12 clicks to view an attached image! 13 and you accidentally cancel it and it must be re-sent.

[douche]

If you're using Lync, but can get by with just IM and presence, install Pidgin and use SIPE[1]. Even if you're on Windows, it's worth doing - Lync has some silly restrictions about running multiple instances, and no way to connect to more than one account at a time

[1] http://sipe.sourceforge.net/