Summary
Have you heard? There’s a new browser war, with a suddenly re-energized Microsoft out to maintain its dominant share against upstarts like Google Chrome. If we’re all going to do the Time Warp and zip back to 1996, it’s only fitting that we toss some fear, uncertainly, and doubt (FUD) into the fight. Which is exactly what Microsoft appears to have done.
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Ed Bott
Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. He's served as editor of the U.S. edition of PC Computing and managing editor of PC World; both publications had monthly paid circulation in excess of 1 million during his tenure. He is the author of more than 25 books on Microsoft Windows and Office, including the recently released Windows 7 Inside Out.
Have you heard? There’s a new browser war, with a suddenly re-energized Microsoft out to maintain its dominant share and impede the progress of upstarts like Google Chrome. Every major browser maker has kicked its development cycle into overdrive to one-up the competition.
So, if we’re all going to do the Time Warp and go back to 1996, it’s only fitting that we toss some fear, uncertainly, and doubt (FUD) into the fight.
That appears to be Microsoft’s strategy with its new cloud-based Office 365 service, which I am currently beta-testing. Like many current Microsoft products, this service works with a broad range of browsers and operating systems. And indeed, I have been merrily testing Office 365 in all sorts of different modern browsers, and it seems to work well in all of them.
So why do I see this text every time I start up the service using the current shipping version of Chrome? “You are currently viewing Microsoft Office 365 with a web browser that may cause some pages to display incorrectly and some features to function in an unexpected way. You will have a better experience … if you use one of these supported browsers.”
The list does not include Chrome. Which is very strange, because according to the official software requirements page for Office 365, supported browsers and operating systems include:
- Windows-based: Internet Explorer 8, Mozilla Firefox 3 or 4, Google Chrome 6, 7, 8, or 9 (OWA Light only); Internet Explorer 7 is supported with Windows Vista with Service Pack 2, and Internet Explorer 9 is supported with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008. [emphasis added]
- Mac-based: Safari 4 or 5
- Linux-based: Firefox 3 or 4
That’s a fairly complete list. Commendable, even, and completely at odds with that warning. And what about that nagging disclaimer that only the light version of the Outlook Web App (“OWA Light”) is supported on Chrome? That also seems very odd, especially if you go to Microsoft’s official information page for Outlook Web App in Exchange 2010, which says, with no strings attached: “Works with all major browsers.”
On a separate support page (“Outlook Web App Supported Browsers”) for Exchange 2010, you’ll find this text:
To use the complete set of features available in Outlook Web App and the Web management interface, you can use the following browsers on a computer running Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, or Windows 7:
- Internet Explorer 7 and later versions.
- Firefox 3.0.1 and later versions.
- Chrome 3.0.195.27 and later versions.
Given that Exchange 2010 powers Office 365 mail, that seems to suggest that Chrome should be able to use all OWA features, doesn’t it?
This helpful blog page from a member of the Exchange team lays out the differences between the full and light versions of OWA in Exchange 2010. Based on this list and my testing, there’s no question that the Outlook Web App in Google Chrome has all features and is not a light version.
So why does that scary warning come up when you use Chrome to visit Office 365? I asked Microsoft, and got this noncommittal response from a spokesperson:
Office 365 is designed to work with the majority of browsers on the market, including Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome, and Firefox. During this beta period, we have tested the performance of these browsers within the Office 365 experience, which has been very strong in the vast majority of cases. We are aware of some functional issues associated with certain browsers in specific cases. In these cases we display an error message to make sure our users are aware of potential problems before they proceed.
“We are aware of some functional issues…” Normally, when a beta product has some known issues, those are disclosed in a readme file or release notes so that testers don’t waste time on a broken feature (or file bug reports against it).
But not here, strangely. When I asked if Microsoft had any more details to share about these “functional issues,” I was told, “Not at this time.”
It’s convenient that this message occurs only on Chrome, which is probably the biggest threat to Microsoft going forward. (Sorry, Firefox.) In fact, in the absence of details, the sole purpose of this message seems to be to spread fear, uncertainly, and doubt about the wisdom of using a particular competitor’s software.
Just like the good old days.
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Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications.
Disclosure
Ed Bott
Ed Bott is a freelance technical journalist and book author. All work that Ed does is on a contractual basis.
Since 1994, Ed has written more than 25 books about Microsoft Windows and Office. Along with various co-authors, Ed is completely responsible for the content of the books he writes. As a key part of his contractual relationship with publishers, he gives them permission to print and distribute the content he writes and to pay him a royalty based on the actual sales of those books. Ed's books are currently distributed by Que Publishing (a division of Pearson Education) and by Microsoft Press.
On occasion, Ed accepts consulting assignments. In recent years, he has worked as an expert witness in cases where his experience and knowledge of Microsoft and Microsoft Windows have been useful. In each such case, his compensation is on an hourly basis, and he is hired as a witness, not an advocate.
Ed does not own stock or have any other financial interest in Microsoft or any other software company. He owns 500 shares of stock in EMC Corporation, which was purchased before the company's acquisition of VMWare. In addition, he owns 350 shares of stock in Intel Corporation, purchased more than two years ago. All stocks are held in retirement accounts for long-term growth.
Ed does not accept gifts from companies he covers. All hardware products he writes about are purchased with his own funds or are review units covered under formal loan agreements and are returned after the review is complete.
Biography
Ed Bott
Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. He's served as editor of the U.S. edition of PC Computing and managing editor of PC World; both publications had monthly paid circulation in excess of 1 million during his tenure. He is the author of more than 25 books on Microsoft Windows and Office, including the recently released Windows 7 Inside Out.
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Friday, 22 April 2011
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