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Why is Excel 2016 for Mac so bad?

Anonymous
2016-08-27T19:22:32+00:00

I'm wondering what people think - Excel 2016 for Mac seems to be so bad that it must be intentional. Am I wrong? Is Microsoft still waging a low-grade war on Mac users by making their products subtly awful on a Mac? Is it just that they have really bad developers? Is it that the developers are good but the management somehow makes them do terrible work? Is it that whoever is in charge of designing Excel for Mac has an ex who uses it for his/her job and this person has devoted his/her life to making his/her ex's life bad in confusing ways? Has a nefarious actor infiltrated Microsoft in order to make their products just bad enough that companies will continue to use them but their awfulness will create a small long-term drag on the US economy? Answers would be appreciated. Thanks!

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | MacOS

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-03-21T14:43:08+00:00

    After 2 months of running around came to the final conclusion that MS has no interest in solving issues of the program office. Since early start the program begun giving issues and reckless emails and calls worth zero. Now again and this time not Word but Excel failing to work with some basic issues. Summarising: 1) Operators asked me to re-install office (done no solution) 2) Then asked me to re install operating system (done) 3) Install older versions (done - no solution) 4) We are sorry but we can't solve the problem....go ahead and sue us - we can't solve the problem and frankly we don't care(this was the general summary). Well folks I am working to commence a class action against MS as I see many many many people lament issues and MS not caring in whatsoever . Contact me on ******@gmail.com if interested in gathering compensation for loss of business and opportunities, time spent and foolish company dealing with the issue with no care!!

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-11-13T18:22:40+00:00

    I also wish they would (get off their behinds and actually do some work.)

    MS is a software monopoly and behaves like one. We're imprisoned. We live in a .docx / .xlsx world. If MS were a properly regulated monopoly like many public utilities, it would be held to specific standards. But it isn't and it won't be even though it should be.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-10-31T23:01:23+00:00

    Agreed. there is not a lot wrong with the intended features in Excel for Mac. I just want the product to to work properly. The software frequently loses where the mouse is on the screen and highlights the wrong cell. This has beed a "feature" since I upgraded to 2016.  This product is simply amateur - easily the worse paid for software I have ever used.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-09-20T14:31:04+00:00

    A close friend of mine, an engineer, told me that Excel 2016 for Windows has many of the same usability problems as Excel for Mac. I've found the same thing.

    I've used Excel since the original Office for Mac 1998. It has always had fewer functions, so I'm used to that. Excel for Mac meets the vast majority of my needs, which are pretty extensive all in all: I've adapted to what's available in the Mac versions over the years.

    Since I'm registered for Office 365 which allows me 5 installations, I have Office for Windows installed as well, running under Parallels, but I make little use of it.

    I find Office for Mac's use of both ribbon and standard Mac pull down menus is a major benefit of the Mac version. I don't have the time to look for what I need in the ribbon: if I know where to find it, the ribbon works great, but I know where everything is in the pull down menus so I don't waste time searching. And menus have keyboard shortcuts, which are the fastest way to work. The ribbon is also harder to use as it relies on many small icons and tiny fonts - harder to read than the menus. 

    I've found Microsoft is not responsive to bug reports. I've reported and carefully described over the last year a few bugs that cause crashes, but I don't believe any have been fixed. Most of the patches are either cosmetic or for security problems.

    Office 2016 is another new interface on top of the same old code. As in the past, mostly reliable unless things get too big or complex, and still required when you exchange or collaborate on files, since .docx and .xlsx files are used by everyone else.

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  5. Anonymous
    2017-10-03T10:23:52+00:00

    Yes, it is very bad.

    Had to say it, sorry.

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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