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Microsoft Operating Systems Software Windows Technology

Microsoft Is Putting the Sexy Into Unsexy Software (theverge.com) 89

Microsoft's redesigned SharePoint platform is proof that Microsoft is serious about making their software more stylish. "It's colorful, pretty, and makes SharePoint seem sexy instead of the boring corporate intranet website that most people associate it with," writes The Verge's Tom Warren, in response to Microsoft's latest sizzle video all about SharePoint "innovations." From the report: Microsoft's video also contains the bubbles that form part of the new SharePoint logo -- part of a broader revamp of the company's Office icons that are rolling out right now. It also includes a bunch of Microsoft's Fluent Design elements that form part of the company's big push towards open design internally.

So why did Microsoft make such a flashy video for SharePoint? The company held a SharePoint conference earlier this week and launched a new SharePoint home sites feature. It's a new landing site for a business' intranet that combines news, events, content, video, and even conversations. SharePoint is used by businesses to encourage collaboration, and these new home sites look like a far more modern way to achieve that.
Warren notes that Microsoft's newly unveiled Windows Terminal also had a sizzle video that promoted the new design.
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Microsoft Is Putting the Sexy Into Unsexy Software

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  • I don't believe in SharePoint [youtube.com]. Substitute 'SharePoint' for 'love' in that clip and it kind of gets the point across.

    • SharePoint is so sexy that, after I deployed it, the head of human resources came into my office, tore my clothes off and fucked my brains out.

  • by cyber-vandal ( 148830 ) on Friday May 24, 2019 @06:32PM (#58650688) Homepage

    It's slow, horrible to admin and you have to fight it every step of the way to develop for it. Plus it's still in fucking webforms.

    • and, to cap it all, even once ytou have it up and running "to facilitate collaboration" nobody can make the fucking thing actually aid collaborating.

      Sharepoint was an intern's pet project that Microsoft figured could sell, so they did. Huge incentives to get it out there (like, say Biztalk) even though it (liek Biztalk) is a product that is all mouth and no trousers.

    • by jonwil ( 467024 )

      By far the biggest problem with SharePoint is clueless idiot managers who insist on using SharePoint for things that SharePoint is not the right solution for.

      • That's thanks to Microsoft telling them bullshit about what you can do with it. Apparently people have used it for internet sites. I dread to think what horrendous abominations those must be behind the scenes.

  • is bringing the sexy back!

  • by Anonymous Coward

    "It's colorful, pretty, and makes SharePoint seem sexy instead of the boring corporate intranet website that most people associate it with"

    Holy fucking hell but the fucking software industry is ran by fucking drooling idiots these days.

    I know, how about you make SharePoint more fucking useful instead of making it colorful and pretty?

    This is literally just pandering to snowflakes and other fucking useless idiots.

    Then again, that's been Microsoft's direction in UI design for years ... fuck functionality, we'r

    • by Cederic ( 9623 )

      Jesus fucking Christ all fucking goddamned fucking mighty, what fucking stupidity are we living in?

      Just look at the other AC responses to this article. That's the fucking stupidity we're living in. Microsoft has recognised this, realised that bright colours and simple interfaces are all they can handle.

      If it makes you feel any better, just remember that your employer's SharePoint administration team are the people that couldn't get jobs as proper sysadmin.

  • Because what Sharepoint needs is GPU accelerated rendering.
    Why get rid of the bugs? Hey, those were filtered out in the triage meeting, GPU accelerated rendering is what we need!
  • So can you actually make such a video easily, using the tool?

    Or is it a piece of flashy animation making a two-dimentional sow's ear look like a set of artistic silk dresses on an oriental dance troupe?

  • Just a thought. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Major_Disorder ( 5019363 ) on Friday May 24, 2019 @07:07PM (#58650820)
    If your goal is to make your software/website/app "sexy", it is time to fire some people.
    Instead make it:
    Faster.
    Easier.
    Simpler, without removing features.

    Or here is a radical idea. Ask your customers what they would like added, if enough people want something added or changed, do that.
    But first FIRE whoever thought "sexy software" was a thing. FIRE! Preferably out of a canon.
    • You can add "Fewer bugs" to the mix.
    • No, that doesn't lead to promotions for the designer. You know what does? Flashy, sexy designs she can put it her resume for her next job. When you reward a behavior, you get more of it.
    • Sexy doesn't have to mean non-functional. You know what isn't sexy: monospaced typefaces. Making the console "sexy" dramatically improved the ability to read it. You know what isn't sexy: lack of modern anti-aliasing. "Sexiness" like Cleartype has also dramatically improved usability.

      What is sexy anyway? Not everyone is interested in big tits. Some of us prefer our software to have tabs and consider a tabbed console "sexy". Other's just aren't into overweight women and would therefor consider sexy anything

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      If you ask the user they want sexy, like their phone apps are. And really there is nothing wrong with being aesthetically pleasing, as long as it doesn't interfere with functionality or usability.

      Actually one of the main drivers for this is that high DPI screens (e.g. 4k) are becoming quite common now. Even on business laptops 4k is common on higher end models, and people who do stuff like CAD for a living want it on their workstation. I write a lot of code and I love it, makes the text easier on the eyes.

  • I could much reproduce the whole of Poe's oeuvre before "boring" occurred to me in a word association with "SharePoint".

    Microsoft can only hope that boring is top of mind ...

  • by AndyKron ( 937105 ) on Friday May 24, 2019 @08:23PM (#58651040)
    My OS will not be a subscription
    • You wasted that post on a Sharepoint story? Did you just get triggered by the Microsoft word in the title and then just "derp derp, arrrag, subscription, froth, spittle" onto Slashdot?

  • Same Sharepoint with trendy new design ... same sows ear.

  • PHB1: "It's a pile of shit, nobody likes it, what do we do?"

    PHB2: "Let's see, how about we make it a shiny colorful pulsating pile of shit instead?"

    PHB1: "Ahh, I see where you're going. Niiice!"

  • At best, it does not stink too strongly. Although they have trouble reaching that level lately...

  • It'd probably be worth just as much if it did 1/10th as many things and didn't require a dedicated application maintenance team to curate search results.
  • Wait, it's a television commercial? Not sexy. That's what the sheep gravitate toward during lonely nights at their trailers/apartments.

    Even more, there is no way to make SharePoint sexy because it is the usual Microsoft grab-bag. Every one of MSFT's 6969 divisions contributes its own demands, and you end up with a Swiss army knife with no blade.

    Finally, this misses the big point that for most people, a blog would work. If it were not for their recent censorship issues, I would say "Install Wordpress, proble

  • Sexy is e.g. Sofia Vergara.
  • Phase2Technology, [phase2technology.com] is the maintainer [github.com] of the Drupal OpenAtrium intranet-in-a-box Distribution [drupal.org] which is a better SharePoint IMHO. Way better. It is free, and open-source.

    This new SharePoint info page [microsoft.com] talks up the new 'Home sites' feature, which can be directly compared to OpenAtrium's use of Spaces [phase2technology.com].

    For one thing, OpenAtrium has a very useful task/assignment tracker with good reporting, due dates, etc. negating any need for something like MS Project or Atlassian JIRA.

    Caveat: It takes a Drupal Develop
  • When you stick a movie DVD into your computer's optical drive, every operating system in the world will autoplay its built-in video player application. This includes older versions of Windows. But do this in Windows 10, and it brings up the Microsoft Store, inviting you to buy the video player for an extra $15. When you buy the DVD Player and install it, inserting a disk with Autoplay turned on still brings up Microsoft Store. You have to start DVD Player manually every time and exit the Store. Yeah, that's

  • They perfected putting lipstick on the pig.

Ummm, well, OK. The network's the network, the computer's the computer. Sorry for the confusion. -- Sun Microsystems

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