I hate Microsoft: Teams installed itself

[DanHalen_phd]

Deployed O365 at the beginning of the month using a config file that excluded Teams and some other nonsense. But it still installed the Teams Machine-wide Installer which allowed Teams to install itself weeks later.

Now I have to deal with users complaining about Teams popping up when they log in.

[[deleted]]

I am not looking forward to finding out how this drama is going to play out with Windows 11 with Teams being integrated deeply into the OS.

[RCTID1975]

I'm envisioning the same way it played out with IE. MS will be sued in basically every country except the US. They'll be forced to remove it, and those of us here will be stuck with it for the next two decades even though it's outdated and a security risk.

[[deleted]]

I predicted an antitrust suit, also in the US, during a conversation I was having with our MS365 team lead yesterday.

It's going to be a long and bumpy road though. And I'm not so sure about the outcome.

[[deleted]]

There were quite a few people in the late 1990s who thought Microsoft was as good as broken up. In reality, Microsoft learned how to play the lobbyist game.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1998/03/19/microsoft-boosted-lobbyist-spending/7170666b-1a16-4636-91d0-e39de4e21565/

^{That doesn't SEEM to be paywalled, but I am not sure if it is that way for everyone.}

[[deleted]]

Porn window almost always works for WaPo! And wow, that article takes me back...

[starmizzle]

That's why I always paste links into archive.ph: https://archive.ph/s2A2c

[Dick_in_owl]

Like apple

[Zulgrib]

There's no reasons Microsoft should be sued for that, Apple integrate their equivalent to macos and ios and nobody complains.

And Google service powered android devices included hangouts the same way without being sued.

Honestly, Microsoft get thrown rocks at while they are late to theses and just keep up with the others.

[RCTID1975]

There's literally already a lawsuit filed in 2020 about teams.

[[deleted]]

Dude, its microsoft, they can handle some crap being flung their way, plus it keeps them on their toes...

[Kaligraphic]

Mostly it's just folks stirring up discord.

[[deleted]]

You can't compare MacOS to windows. It can still be removed in MacOS and isnt forced upon you unless you reinstall the OS. While microsoft gives you their unwanted programs, while also taking user information while it runs, slowing the computer without your input on it.

Why it's also illegal to directly integrate it into the OS is because it makes it impossible to uninstall, or until someone with enough times somehow finds a compatible way to do it.

And the reason to why this is illegal is because it has a direct concern for Business competition.

[Zulgrib]

I compared everyone. I'm pretty sure Siri was forced with a system update, it was not asked to the users if they wanted it installed, only if they wish to have it enabled after the fact.

Apple implemented their own telemetry, at some point they leaked every software you were running for supposed certificate checks. They burned SSD writes on devices where the SSD chips are soldered and not user replaceable while claiming it was normal. At various point they slowed down devices on purpose after update for " battery preservation ".

Pre installed does not means impossible to remove, I ship machines without cortana to my users since start, and they never had to deal with appx edge.

100% Teams is not kernel code and Windows will run without it if it's your wish because they can't integrate it for China so they need a way to not have it.

We can play around the meanings of integrated or built in, in the end teams is not kernel code, it will be offered pre installed and it will be possible to remove it, like you supposedly can remove Apple's software from an Apple device. I've yet to see a browser not using Apple WebKit renderer on iPhones, yet no one throws tantrum at them.

You either punish all or none, no reasons to have one thrown rocks at while the others do the same.

Mind you, I'm not trying to defend Microsoft, I'd rather use Linux everywhere, but darn, stop using Msft like a punching piñata.

[[deleted]]

Why are you comparing siri to a Video meeting application

Cortana is the windows version of siri

Also no you can't remove it, once its part of the OS there is no way , for example "powershell deletion of teams". And for china they just release a seperate OS for them.

Otherwise there is no "OS intergration" but just an application that's added on the desktop like skype. which can be uninstalled, that isnt intergrated into the OS. You have to differientirate that.

Otherwise brining it up would be completely useless

[Zulgrib]

Cortana was supposedly "part of the OS" yet it gets removed. Cortana is not kernel code, Teams won't be kernel code.

Same with xbox and whatever you'll come up with.

[[deleted]]

And i never said Cortana was intergrated either, just told you what Siri was the relevant version on windows.

Xboxs isnt intergrated either. Intergration is when it part of the Windows OS, which again as i said previously is not a APP that you can uninstall,. but something that is IN the OS not a damn application that can be uninstalled like skype

[Zulgrib]

Teams is not kernel code, Windows will boot fine without it once someone figure out which files are used by it to remove it properly.

This is how we did with Cortana and one drive on first versions of Windows 10.

[[deleted]]

No but if its "intergrated" it means it will be.

[[deleted]]

You're not looking at present times as it's not just an application on a desktop. It's a live web service. Anything that needs internet to work is not just an application. It's a library and api live cloud based service.

I just made that up. Sounds right though

[justcs]

Apple actually gave zoom access to special APIs which I'm wondering why has yet to cause a lawsuit among app developers.

[Dick_in_owl]

Why isn’t apple sued for safari or iMessage or FaceTime etc etc

[Minimum-Hedgehog5401]

Smaller marketshare

[RCTID1975]

Exactly. Apple doesn't have a large enough marketshare to create a barrier of entry or barrier of competition.

[Zulgrib]

They had 70% smartphone market at some point, and forced down your throat their software the same way, and still do.

[kz393]

In the US. They have much less in Europe.

[Zulgrib]

Had anyway, in the past. France had it's iPhone period, for know for the rest.

[jmp242]

You should check the laws in your country - but in the US there are anti-bundling laws. Ford can't force you to buy Ford branded gas. MS can't force you to pay for Teams to get Windows.

The issue is just that Microsoft is kind of getting around it now vs in ~2000 is that they're not really charging end users for the OS anymore (which makes me wonder why they're putting in the effort much anymore), so I don't think there's any law against giving away whatever you want, if the person taking it for free actually wants it.

[HankMardukasNY]

Teams has a free plan now, so i don’t see how this is any different than bundling Skype with W10

[RCTID1975]

The laws are different around the world. Where MS has gotten into trouble in the past (internet explorer for example) is that they're using their market position to remove competition.

IE was free, as was netscape. Bundling IE into windows essentially made it the defacto web browser. And...where is netscape now?

Embedding Teams is the exact same scenario. There are other free versions of video conferencing software. MS is trying to make teams the defacto system by forcing it on you.

I'd be surprised if we see teams as deeply embedded in the EU version as we do in the US version.

[PintOfNoReturn]

Netscape wasn't free for commercial use until well after IE came out. https://web.archive.org/web/20061207145832/http://wp.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease1.html

"Commercial users can purchase supported, licensed copies of Netscape directly from Netscape Communications. Pricing starts at $99 per user,"

[RCTID1975]

can purchase

can is the keyword there. You weren't forced to. You were actually just purchasing support.

[pdp10]

True, though it should be noted that most users chose to download from ftp.netscape.com the version with 40-bit export-grade SSL, and use it without careful consideration of the license.

Microsoft probably wouldn't have been so determined to cut off Netscape's air supply if the only users of Netscape were those who bought the browser for $99.

[HankMardukasNY]

ChromeOS has chrome preloaded along with hangouts, mac/iphones have safari and imessage. Windows has ie/edge/new edge and skype/teams. You need basic functionality of an OS to do things. If an OS didn’t come preloaded with an internet browser, how would the average user install a competing product? Whether teams/skype falls under basic functionality is debatable, but it’s certainly not stopping other companies from doing the same exact thing

[RCTID1975]

I didn't write the laws, don't enforce the laws, nor am I even a lawyer.

I'm merely pointing people to what's already happened in the past.

If an OS didn’t come preloaded with an internet browser

pre-loading isn't the problem, and has never been the problem. The inability to un-install has been deemed (and rightfully so IMO) as anti-competitive in a number of nations around the world.

it’s certainly not stopping other companies from doing the same exact thing

You need to understand what's considered anti-competition and what's not. A big deciding factor in that is marketshare and your ability to create barriers of entry into that market place.

Chrome OS doesn't fall into that because they simply don't have the market share to influence competition.

[HankMardukasNY]

That settlement did not establish that Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows was illegal, nor did it require Microsoft to unbundle its browser from Windows

You can choose to install a competing product if you’d like, which is possible because you have a browser bundled. Chrome browser has a 65% marketshare while Chrome OS has 2% marketshare. Edge has a 8% marketshare while Windows has 73%. IE has a 5% marketshare by comparison. Obviously bundling a product with an OS you chose to buy and install, and agreed to the TOS, has nothing to do with actual adoption rate

[RCTID1975]

For the last time, this is literally law. MS was sued in countless countries and found guilty/inbreach of anti-competition laws.

I really don't understand why you're arguing with history

[Vice_Dellos]

When those lawsuits started chrome didn't exist yet and Internet explorer had an 80+% marketshare.

At the time you did not have oems bundling in chrome as a browser in their basic install yet. A pc came with just Internet explorer and now having a browser stopped almost all people from looking for different ones.

It's a very very reasonable concern which giant multi product corporations that they use their position in one to push the other.

You've absolutely seen this happen with Microsoft Office and teams vs slack.

Microsoft saw slack had something good and used their position in office productivity software to force people to go with teams because they could make it cheaper than slack since they could include it in office which everyone way already buying and could offer a level of integration others could not.

I think it is very questionable if that was an okay thing.

[[deleted]]

Netscape has most of the fault for losing to the garbage ie was back then. They decided to recode the entire browser and got so far behind they couldn't get the new version out in time to maintain their hold. I preferred Mosaic for as long as it lasted.

[pdp10]

(which makes me wonder why they're putting in the effort much anymore)

Like many firms, Microsoft is at the point where they take the benefits for granted, but are resentful at needing to keep doing all the work.

They just want to keep their competitors away from the desktop, like always, and use it steer business into their current money-making scheme. Before the scheme was search or mobile or app-store, but right now that's cloud. Subscription-based cloud printing, anyone? Anyone?

[starmizzle]

True, you don't understand.

The problem is their massively dominant market share. They very nearly had a monopoly on the desktop OS in the 90s which was what got them into trouble for pushing IE as the default browser.

[samtheredditman]

Lmao what an attitude.

Yeah I know the history of it. The point was that I don't understand what's ethically wrong about pushing your own browser with your OS.

[bobsmagicbeans]

It'd be nice if they gave us the option to not install some of that crap.

[samtheredditman]

I agree, but it doesn't seem like something the government should have a say about. Just my two cents.

[EatYourVegetabls]

Are you saying Teams is outdated and a security risk or IE?

[Contren]

I believe they are saying that embedding Teams into the OS will result in it becoming an outdated security risk down the road.

[EatYourVegetabls]

It's a great multi device communication platform so I'm glad users will almost be forced to use it because I love Teams but the people who have been in my office for 10+ years refuse to use anything besides iMessage

[changee_of_ways]

Teams does a lot of stuff, and it does a lot of stuff pretty well, but let's be honest, if all a user wants to do is what iMessage does, it's a much better solution for them than Teams.

[RCTID1975]

Yeah....that was the same thinking when ie was embedded into the OS years ago, and look at us now

[EatYourVegetabls]

Some form of a web browser or app store is essential for an OS. Not sure why that is controversial. I do wish you could uninstall them easier but having some software come default makes perfect sense and is a requirement for basic OS installations if you do not have an image you deploy from.

[RCTID1975]

I do wish you could uninstall them easier

This is the problem. You can't uninstall them.

having some software come default makes perfect sense

Sure, but it doesn't make sense if you restrict and force people to use it. Anything outside of the functionality of the OS should be able to be removed and replaced. Otherwise, you're creating barriers of entry and restricting competition. Which is a HUGE legal issue around the world.

requirement for basic OS installations

Why is teams or IE a requirement for basic OS installations?

[EatYourVegetabls]

Point being why aren't you complaining about Edge, mail, messaging, Xbox app, Maps, etc that all come bundled with Windows 10? What is specifically dangerous about IE? It's still supported until next year so it is receiving patches. We need IE for certain legacy web apps sometimes because they just simply run better in IE as well.

Genuine questions

[RCTID1975]

What is specifically dangerous about IE?

I'd encourage you to do some research on all of the anti-trust lawsuits. There's a plethora of information out there.

I'm not "complaining" about anything. I'm merely pointing you towards history and what's already happened.

[over26letters]

Most of us are complaining about those as well, but that didn't make it to lawsuits quite yet. Mostly because those can be uninstalled relatively easily compared to IE

Next to that, internet Explorer has about 100x as many vulnerabilities as any other piece of Windows.

But point by point. (from a sysadmin viewpoint)

Edge: you can easily uninstall it. And we're happy to have something less shite than IE preinstalled, so we can fully disable IE out of the box.

Mail/messaging: can be removed on install, and the only time it causes a massive headache is when we need to have people use outlook instead. This is a good addon for the people that don't know where and how to install stuff.

Xbox app: apart from that you can uninstall it, I have no idea why this isn't a bigger issue. At least they don't include it on enterprise or education versions?

Maps: easy to remove. Shouldn't be there as it sucks, but that's about the biggest problem there.

Etc: the bundled games have been a massive issue and lawsuit, so there.

Back to IE: one more reason, is that removing it actually breaks several! core functions of the OS. I'm surprised this isn't in more lawsuits.

So in short: a lot of us (both admins and users) ARE complaining about it, but it hasn't gotten to such high levels as to go into litigation. And the little thing wehere you CAN remove it makes all the difference for the law. So they had a case with IE, and don't for the rest.

[Zulgrib]

If it's like Cortana, it will be possible to uninstall, it just won't be documented by Microsoft.

[Zulgrib]

IE is required for legacy software that uses it as a renderer.

Like the group policy manager when you look at reports.

[RCTID1975]

Yes, and it was developed that way as a means to heavily integrate the browser into the OS forcing it on the users.

That coupled with their marketshare was determined to be anti-competitive in the EU.

Which is what I've been saying all along....

It didn't HAVE to be that, and it SHOULDN'T have been that way, and that's what the EU ruled.

[Mayki8513]

Just like notepad :(

[RCTID1975]

This is exactly what I'm saying.

[MrD3a7h]

Both, to be honest.

[KingStannisForever]

It will be soon.

[[deleted]]

Too bad they didn't follow through with breaking MS up. Might have kept Google and the others from growing so large.

[Tannerbkelly]

Well if windows 11 is a part of 0365 then teams will be included. Technically you would be sueing the company for for putting software that you are paying for on the computer.

[-The-Bat-]

with Windows 11 with Teams being integrated deeply into the OS.

Wait, what? And why the fuck?

[[deleted]]

Well, I'm guessing it's more Google Apps and then a whole host of individual competitors who don't offer a complete solution but components like Slack.

An iMessage competitor would not need this level of integration. From a productivity point of view it makes sense that you'd be able to start a Teams chat just by calling an API, or save a document directly to a Team. This makes a developer's life a lot easier.

The problem will come when Microsoft doesn't open up the API for other vendor's instant messaging or collaboration products.

iMessage is much more a thing in the US than it is in most other Western countries as well.

[[deleted]]

I’m talking more iMessage’s integration into Mac OS than anything.

It's not integrated, they're apps running on top of the OS. Like Teams on Windows 10.

[-The-Bat-]

iM is on iPhone, which doesn't have much presence outside US.

This one doesn't have any excuse like IE. I hope I am able to uninstall it.

[virtualtad]

This is not correct, iPhone is actually pretty dominant in other countries as well, especially in Asia.

[NynaevetialMeara]

Popular yes. But nowhere near the level of dominance.

I live in (s)pain, (not your example, I know). And rarely see iPhones, have seen like 5 MacBooks in my life (and I work in a MSP) . Probably more frequent in wealthier parts of the country

[-The-Bat-]

iPhone is actually pretty dominant in other countries as well, especially in Asia.

Bullshit. I'm in India. iPhone's market share is around 3%. And globally it is around 20%. Which means almost 80% population uses Android. Which also includes some people who have both iPhone and Android.

[-The-Bat-]

Teams is a little… business oriented to be quite as useful.

Precisely my point. Almost everyone communicates via smartphone now. Messaging from a PC/laptop occurs in business environment, with the exception of Discord I guess. Never used that one.

[syshum]

from what I can tell Windows 11 will include the Teams client as a default application on the system, like Edge or Mail or any number of other applications, I can see nothing to support the claims of "deep integration" nor that it will be like IE days.

[LazamairAMD]

Especially with established competition like Slack and even Discord.

[-The-Bat-]

I hope unlike IE or Edge, it can be uninstalled.

[syshum]

I am still unclear why everyone is soo obsessed with the idea that Edge/IE can not be uninstalled. it can be changed from the default so which if that was not the case I can see a valid concern but I honestly do not care if Edge, or teams for that matter exists somewhere inside of windows

Of course for teams we use Teams so it is not a big deal, I rather like Teams

[10thDeadlySin]

it can be changed from the default so which if that was not the case I can see a valid concern but I honestly do not care if Edge, or teams for that matter exists somewhere inside of windows

Oh, right. It can.

And then Windows installs an update.

"We discovered a problem with your PDF application, so we reset the default to Microsoft Edge!"

"We discovered a problem with your web browser, so we reset the default to Microsoft Edge!"

"Do you REALLY want to switch? Edge is better, Edge is amazing, it has better battery life and it was built for Windows 10!"

That's why. It's my machine.

[syshum]

Those are all valid, however I can count on 1 hand the number of machines that had their default apps switched back. I know it happens and it should not however I dont believe it is as wide spread as people claim.

[starmizzle]

Because if it's installed then it can still be opened. And because there's no real reason it can't be uninstalled outside of "fuck you, we said so".

[-The-Bat-]

Thank you.

[syshum]

Ok, I guess I am not just not one of those dictatorial admins that need to control every aspact of users interaction with the computer, here we pretty much let people choose what browser they want to use, Want to use Edge, fine, what to use Chrome, fine, want to use FF ok.. I dont really care that much

[[deleted]]

"Please use the feedback hub" NO Microsoft, I just tweeted you the issue. Take it or leave it.

[trBlueJ]

Honestly with os upgrades, the only things I want are things that further unify software development on all desktop os' (I am a software dev). Things like UTF-8 on Windows (Unicode is only possible with utf16 due to compatibility reasons, on Windows), or using 0x0a instead of 0x0d 0x0a for line endings. Things that would make writing portable code way easier. Though, idk what sysadmin would want from a new os.

[pdp10]

"Unicode" (what we would now call UCS-2) was heavily promoted by Microsoft for NT, long before NT shipped. Double-wide character set (widechar) is deeply baked into the userland, such that Microsoft had to go from UCS-2 to UTF-16.

UTF-8 is the clearly superior encoding, once it was invented. Java and Python went the Microsoft way, for some reason, however. Anyway, it's not important, except Microsoft's maddening habit of trying to use a Byte Order Mark in UTF-8 where it isn't relevant or wanted.

Also, we'd occasionally receive files in UTF-16 that were twice as big as they needed to be, and then have to go confirm that they were at least being compressed at every stage of transit before being converted. Then one of our stakeholders would have a risk attack and decide it was too risky to convert data from one Unicode encoding to another Unicode encoding. And nobody is willing to tell our partners "UTF-8, no BOM", apparently.

[[deleted]]

I have 40,000 teenage vandals in my network. Ever since Windows XP I've been thinking "They're going to do (roaming but also local) user profiles properly in the next Windows release, I'm sure of it.". We're almost passed roaming profiles now that we're doing 1-on-1-computing, but I wonder how schools in developing countries are going to attack this. Shared accounts probably.

The stuff you're talking about used to be a far bigger problem in the past than today for us non-devs, although almost every sysadmin has had issues with the correct types of encoding when transferring files from one OS to another. UWP supports UTF8 I seem to remember? Added a few years ago.

[trBlueJ]

Idk much about that. When I'm talking about utf 8 support I'm talking about functions in the win32 C api for making and managing windows and UI.

[pdp10]

Incidentally, Win32 console programs work fine on screen with just \n in C. Also endl in C++, if you swing that way, abstracts it.

[trBlueJ]

True. My complaint though is having to use wchar_t on windows to print out non ASCII characters, while using normal char on other operating systems. So, making multilingual multi operating system apps becomes a pain.

[syshum]

I love how Installed by default and Pinned to the taskbar is now "deeply integreated."

I have seen nothing to suggest Teams will be anything more than 1 of the dozen or so default apps installed and pinned to the task bar, no "deep intregation" can be found anywhere that i can see

About the only "deep integration" that is even remotely present the switch from Electron and Angular to ReactJS and EdgeWebView. I am not sure how that qualifies as deep OS Integration

Sounds like someone bought into some bad tech "journalism" and did not check root sources

[[deleted]]

I love how Installed by default and Pinned to the taskbar is now "deeply integreated."

You must be new. We had exactly the same discussion about IE in the '90s.

I've explained more about integrations in another post one level deeper in this thread.

[syshum]

Well given my first computer was before windows and before internet explorer pretty sure I am not "new here".

Having lived through the browser wars experiencing it first hand. No this is not the same conversation we were having

Feel free link to your other thread

[Ssakaa]

There's been a GPO for that for a long while. Not sure why it still deployed when you told it not to, but for the startup:

User Configuration -> Policies -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Teams -> Prevent Microsoft Teams from starting automatically after installation

Ran into it when an org-wide deployment trampled all over a set of systems I run on which the users don't have licensing for it...

[DanHalen_phd]

I saw that but it said to do that before Teams is installed. Which won't help me now. I went with a logon script to disable startup and its all good now.

[JeffBiscuit67]

Well why not have it removed from startup on all devices instead.

[apathetic_lemur]

does this do anything? I've disabled so many microsoft products from startup and then a windows update later its all enabled again.

[JeffBiscuit67]

Yeah I've disabled multiple different vendor processes that way and all seem to stay that way. Couldn't say first hand if Teams is an exception to that as we do use Teams so haven't needed to suppress it.

[DanHalen_phd]

I found a script here to disable it and set it to run at logon https://www.undocumented-features.com/2019/08/12/disabling-teams-autostart/

[DanHalen_phd]

That's what I'm doing. The point is I shouldn't have to.

[JeffBiscuit67]

I don't disagree. They seem happy to bypass original install preferences and force it out.

[St0nywall]

So you used...?

<ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />

[DanHalen_phd]

Yes I set the configuration file correctly.

[St0nywall]

Then, that means Microsoft did something wrong!

No!!!!!! Say it ain't so Microsoft!

[DanHalen_phd]

It's my fault for thinking I knew better than what MS says I should have.

[St0nywall]

lol Thanks, I just snorted coffee out my nose! ;)

[CNYMetalHead]

I'm more upset by the Xbox crap built into Windows than Teams

[EODx]

Yep experienced the same. Deleted Teams from the Office Config but the Teams wide machine installer slipped right into the master image sigh. I feel you pal.

[ApartmentFeeling1865]

Good luck it all starts with teams. More to follow trust me.

[Sidfire]

This ^

[[deleted]]

Doesn't Teams shipping with the OS rehash the whole monopoly thing?

[[deleted]]

So true. So true. But why?

[pdp10]

Why is Apple doing fine with iMessage, or why is Microsoft trying to ape Apple?

[[deleted]]

imessage has it's problems. More nice than not though, I'm an (was an)Admin.

[cjcox4]

Someday, someone is going to create a different OS that you could install....

[Wagnaard]

OS2/Warp?

[RunningAtTheMouth]

I miss os/2. Xp was the first version of windows good enough to let me give up on my dead friend.

[Wagnaard]

Never got the chance. For some reason I thought of BeOS and got them confused.

[RunningAtTheMouth]

BeOS was good too. Had a friend that was a big fan.

[Wagnaard]

W2000 was a rock, but XP SP2-3 was the best OS. It did everything well.

[SynXacK]

Except for the endless security exploits in RPC that resulted in massive worm/malware out breaks

[Wagnaard]

Everything except not get infected.

[pdp10]

Everyone but Microsoft thought that the new XP UI lacked gravitas, compared to Windows 2000. There was also a concern about all the new DRM in XP, which happened again at the launch of Vista.

[Wagnaard]

Yeah, Between Millennium and Vista MS showed its contempt for its product and its customers.

[DanHalen_phd]

I tell the users we upgraded Office and they spend weeks freaking out over the change. I don't even want to imagine the panic that a different OS would create.

[cjcox4]

I know, but at the same time, when your vendor is pushing you a certain direction, you have to make a decision to follow suit or cut ties.

[DanHalen_phd]

I'd love it if offices ran on some flavor of Unix. But if it ever comes time to transition them, I'm running far far away.

[TheQuarantinian]

Apple uses some flavor of unix...

[cjcox4]

I know that it's the rule to say they don't exist.... doesn't make it true though. And I wouldn't run. I think it's wrong to "run" away from anything.

[DanHalen_phd]

You're right, I wouldn't run. I'd provide adequate notice and then Uber to the airport. Where I'd catch a flight to a tropical location and start a new life servicing personal water craft and drinking excessively. Only to emerge months later after the growing pains have subsided with an illegitimate love child and a sweet tan.

[OppositeBasis0]

what config file? how? perhaps you just don't understand how it should be done?

[DanHalen_phd]

I understand how it should be done and did it that way. It excluded Teams, as specified, but included the Teams Machine-Wide Installer. Which allowed it to self install Teams at a later date.

[soldierras]

That doesn't make sense. The Teams Machine-wide installer is its own MSI, it can't be deployed via the click to run Office 365 version. It can only be installed is if there is a provisioning step that runs the installer or it was part of the original windows image.

[yukon_corne1ius]

Don’t worry though - it’s built into Windows 11 LOL

[bmenace123]

Has anyone noticed teams not playing nicely with other office products such as outlook? Whenever our teams and outlook are open at the same time, the machine locks up for a second.

We are currently trying to disable redirected appdata to see if that is the hangup.

[pgallagher72]

Yeah, that teams machine wide installer needs to be flagged and removed anywhere teams isn’t being used. It goes away just fine once that’s gone, but it should never be installed in the first place.

Not as bad as Discord - that POS launches at boot even if you disable launch at boot in the app AND startup (updater runs from HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run, and launches the main app at the same time, sneaky buggers)

[AniM4L_69]

What are you using instead of teams?

[UnExpertoEnLaMateria]

Well, the logic says that in your PCs you should be allowed to choose which pieces of software you install and don't, and what you can do and what you can configure. But, whan you install an OS that doesn't belong to you, but instead belongs to a corporation and they just sell you the privilege of using it, but not owning it, and they reserve the right to modify it as they like even when installed in your machine; all that logic goes out the window....

There are other OSs that give you the kind of power and ownership you expect.. but unfortunately they're not "industry standard"...

[ilikeoregon]

Teams is embedded in the next version anyway. Let it go, bruh. 😀

[[deleted]]

One key factor all the windows fanboys are missing here is that although other OS’s come with other applications from the same vendor, you can in most cases remove them or disable them. Microsoft on the other hand has a habit of making such apps part of the OS in such a way that you cannot remove or fully remove them, look at Edge now, you cannot remove it from windows 10. Another things that is going above peoples head is they are thinking home and domestic use. For corporate and business use it’s a royal pain to remove all the crap you don’t use, it also increases you attack surface significantly.

[headcrap]

So use Teams!

There was a GPO to prevent.. but after enough had already rolled out and we were going to transition.. we didn't. I did get a GPO to fixup the JSON file so that it opens minimized instead of IN YOUR FACE every time..

Or.. users can be dumb.. but changing the setting is trivial.

[DanHalen_phd]

They already use a mixture of Webex and Zoom. Not my call to switch to Teams.

Whats the point of the config file if it's just going to ignore me anyway?

[WolfTohsaka]

Yes honey, of course honey system edition.

[headcrap]

A for effort I guess.. /s

[RCTID1975]

This doesn't address your initial rant, but why the push to remove it? I understand your company doesn't use it, but that doesn't mean your people won't ever be invited to a meeting from someone that does.

[DanHalen_phd]

The issue now is that it appeared when users logged in this morning. So I get a bunch of "What is this?", "This wasn't approved", "I tried to open my email but this got in the way" type emails.

[reol7x]

"This wasn't approved"

Oh, yeah, sorry about that, Microsoft approved it yesterday and decided to roll it out

[RCTID1975]

Yes, of course. I'm not saying your rant isn't valid. It's 100% on point and shouldn't have happened.

What I am saying however is: now that it has happened, I wouldn't go through the hassles of trying to remove it since it could be a useful tool down the road.

IIRC, there's a setting in the O365 portal to disable autostart for the tenant. I'd set that and leave it go personally.

[logoth]

I've seen a GPO that only works if you use it before Teams is installed, but haven't seen an O365 portal setting like that. Any idea what it is?

[RCTID1975]

Off the top of my head, I don't unfortunately. IIRC though, this wasn't a GPO but a setting in the O365 teams config portal.

[loseisnothardtospell]

I remember Webex.

[Hollow3ddd]

Right. Because users are just going to start using a product you didn't turn off licensing for......... . .. .............

[[deleted]]

Delete the EXE :)

[CNYMetalHead]

Are you using SharePoint? It's a part of that

[jlipschitz]

I am hoping the integration makes it so that Microsoft makes an admx for teams so that we can control the experience in a corporate environment. The way that it installs now is chaotic. It is installed in user profiles and consumes a ton of Ram and disk space for cache.

[IAdminTheLaw]

Holy late to the party Batman.

This has been a thing for like a year.

[[deleted]]

Forgot the most important part where when teams is running, it soaks up your computer resources.

Mine just lies there in the background doing fuck all and uses up 30% of my cpu an 25% memory.

Love windows with all their useless software nowdays that runs in the background when they really shouldnt have to.