Microsoft makes account switching easier in its web and desktop apps
- Reference: 1651149251
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/04/28/microsoft_account_switcher/
- Source link:
Switching accounts in Microsoft's product has long been a pain for users, requiring them to sign out and sign back in to (for example) change between their personal and work accounts.
While [2]rivals like Google permit the addition of multiple accounts which can be switched by simply clicking on different profiles, Microsoft users have been forced to endure repeated and inconvenient exposure to the company's login screen.
[3]
The problem can be worked around using an InPrivate browser window or a totally different browser. However, with the boundaries between work and personal life blurring, particularly with regard to device usage, the Microsoft's approach to multiple accounts on one device seems a bit old-fashioned.
[4]
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The company has now taken a step to address the problem. Users of Microsoft 365 (Office.com, Word, Excel, PowerPoint for the Web, Outlook, OneDrive and SharePoint) can simply add additional accounts (personal or Azure Active Directory) and switch between them via a click on the profile picture.
[6]Windows 10 still growing, but Win 11 had another bad month, says AdDuplex
[7]Microsoft points at Linux and shouts: Look, look! Privilege-escalation flaws here, too!
[8]There are nearly half a billion active users of Start news feed, says Microsoft
[9]Microsoft partners balk at new licensing scheme, dent growth
In our very subjective testing, the feature worked well, permitting the switching between multiple accounts (once signed in) seamlessly. Signing out from one account drops the user into whatever signed-in account remains, so some caution is needed, but all in all the functionality worked as advertised.
There are a few downsides. The feature is per browser and not per device. Users might also confuse it with browser profiles and the use of third-party cookies is required. In addition, it does not work in the Microsoft 365 Government and Cloud environments. Tenant admins can't easily turn off the feature and only one account can be active per app at a time.
The biggest downside is that the worst offender for account switching – Microsoft Teams – remains on the "coming soon" list (along with other Microsoft web and desktop applications).
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Still, limitations and omissions aside, the feature will be a relief for users dealing with multiple account challenges with Microsoft's web and desktop apps. Worldwide rollout is due to take place between April and June. ®
Get our [11]Tech Resources
[1] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/azure-active-directory-identity/announcing-account-switching-for-microsoft-365-web-apps/ba-p/3290634
[2] https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9308664?hl=en
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Ymq6Mdx80h3Kqn4e23unWwAAAM0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ymq6Mdx80h3Kqn4e23unWwAAAM0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ymq6Mdx80h3Kqn4e23unWwAAAM0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/28/adduplex_windows_11/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/27/microsoft-linux-vulnerability/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/27/microsoft_start_q3_results/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/27/microsoft_q3_2022/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ymq6Mdx80h3Kqn4e23unWwAAAM0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Browser profiles?
Instead of using a guest profile, why don't more people use persistent browser profiles? Especially on my work computer, I use multiple profiles so that it feels like just a separate window of the browser logged into different accounts. Side benefit is I get different sets of cookies that are persistent, so other vendor websites or services can be bound to the correct account automatically.
Bout time
When I worked in the education sector, it wasn't unusual for some staff to have 3 or 4 separate O365 accounts with 3 separate establishments. Plus ours. Plus their personal one.
Nightmare.
Firefox multi-account containers solves this problem perfectly.
But then lands you with the problem of using Firefox. Not everyone's cup of tea.
But what about the apps?
Switching in the browser is all very well but who actually works with O365 in the browser? With the notable exception of Outlook the 365 apps like SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams are notoriously unable to work reliably when logged into multiple 365 accounts if they can do it at all, that is.
Re: But what about the apps?
Teams is unreliable just handling one account...
Yes, it's a pain having to launch umpteen separate programs to do stuff... but that jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none POS saps the life energy out of the machine and I STILL have to launch other programs (Outlook, Word, Excel) to do my work
And why does it not remember the 'last used' state, opening full screen each time... although it now seems to default to the last chat rather than a random chat from a couple of years ago
Pros & cons?
" Switching accounts in Microsoft's product has long been a pain for users, requiring them to sign out and sign back in to (for example) change between their personal and work accounts "
Less convenient maybe, but from a security perspective a jolly good idea as it allows working memory to be purged to protect accounts from each other. Relying on memory segregation between concurrent account spaces is inherently more hazardous.
Ultimately, the balance between convenience and security must be biased to some extent in favour of security. Otherwise we're right back with Win95.