Slack and Microsoft Teams are popular work chat apps, but which is better for your privacy and security? Here’s what to know about the cost to your private data
TLDR: they’re both bad, but it might be interesting to know what each one does
Security aside (because that’s my employers problem), Teams is just aweful.
The UX is all over the place, likely because of the feature creep forcing a lot of dev departments to collaborate.
It just does too much. I don’t need an all on one solution, I need a communication tool.
The chat looks like WhatsApp, not like a proper professional comms channel. Maybe there’s a setting buried somewhere.
The meetings are more miss than hit. For every working meeting I have 5 meetings where something doesn’t work. Multiple retries to join; or it picks the wrong mic, speaker and/or camera; or chat within the meeting doesn’t work for some participants so they can’t share or see links; video streams being disconnected and reconnected depending on who currently speaks (which looks extremels annoying); and probably a ton more I zoned out).
Slack on the other hand mostly just works. As a chat tool. What it is supposed to be.
For extremely large meetings (a few hundred people), Zoom might still have the edge. I am always surprised how well they handle that. Even if it’s not moderated and anyone is allowed to talk at any time. They have some very good algorithms in regards to video stream routing.
Meet got a lot better in that regard too, however. Before COVID Meet wasn’t really usable for more than a dozen people (IMO). Now it can also easily handle one or two hundred.
And yes, for the quick team meeting or a short chat it’s just so convenient. Share link and go. It remembers the settings from last time and you are ready. The only thing that still confuses the shit out of me is that when more than a specific amount of participants are in the meeting, new members join muted. If I am late to meetings I tend to miss that detail and then need a few seconds to realize that no one hears me. I would probably prefer if it was consistent (you always join muted or you never join muted … or you actively have to decide or something).
Security aside (because that’s my employers problem), Teams is just aweful.
The UX is all over the place, likely because of the feature creep forcing a lot of dev departments to collaborate.
It just does too much. I don’t need an all on one solution, I need a communication tool.
The chat looks like WhatsApp, not like a proper professional comms channel. Maybe there’s a setting buried somewhere.
The meetings are more miss than hit. For every working meeting I have 5 meetings where something doesn’t work. Multiple retries to join; or it picks the wrong mic, speaker and/or camera; or chat within the meeting doesn’t work for some participants so they can’t share or see links; video streams being disconnected and reconnected depending on who currently speaks (which looks extremels annoying); and probably a ton more I zoned out).
Slack on the other hand mostly just works. As a chat tool. What it is supposed to be.
Google Meet is the gold standard of meeting software in terms of UI/UX in my opinion. The layout is consistent and reliable.
For extremely large meetings (a few hundred people), Zoom might still have the edge. I am always surprised how well they handle that. Even if it’s not moderated and anyone is allowed to talk at any time. They have some very good algorithms in regards to video stream routing.
Meet got a lot better in that regard too, however. Before COVID Meet wasn’t really usable for more than a dozen people (IMO). Now it can also easily handle one or two hundred.
And yes, for the quick team meeting or a short chat it’s just so convenient. Share link and go. It remembers the settings from last time and you are ready. The only thing that still confuses the shit out of me is that when more than a specific amount of participants are in the meeting, new members join muted. If I am late to meetings I tend to miss that detail and then need a few seconds to realize that no one hears me. I would probably prefer if it was consistent (you always join muted or you never join muted … or you actively have to decide or something).