Donate SIGN UP

Microsoft illogic

Avatar Image
Rev. Green | 10:32 Fri 22nd May 2009 | Computers
5 Answers
Pressing the "previous" arrow on a message in Outlook gives the next LATER message,

What other examples of Microsoft illogic annoy you?
Gravatar

Answers

1 to 5 of 5rss feed

Avatar Image
If you click on the Received column the items are sorted by date, oldest first or newest first. If you sort with the OLDEST first (at the top) then pressing Previous takes you to an EARLIER email not LATER. Previous can mean earlier in date, but can also mean preceding, in this case the one before in the list. Most people work through a list from top down to bottom....
11:06 Fri 22nd May 2009
If you click on the Received column the items are sorted by date, oldest first or newest first.

If you sort with the OLDEST first (at the top) then pressing Previous takes you to an EARLIER email not LATER.

Previous can mean earlier in date, but can also mean preceding, in this case the one before in the list.

Most people work through a list from top down to bottom.

So Previous takes you to the previous one in the list (upwards). Next takes you to the next one in the list (downwards).

This is irrespective if they are sorted in asceding date order or decending date order.
I should make it clear you have to click on the Received column HEADING to change the date order.

Of course if you click on the From or Subject column headings you get a randon date order.

So in this case the Previous and Next buttons have no relevance to date.

Previous takes you to the previous one in the list (upwards)), Next takes you to the next one in the list (downwards)
it's quite a common inconsistency

sky remote
ch+ steps down the stations
display the guide
c+ steps backwards through the guide

Exactly the same thing happens in databases of all flavours. It isn't about Next or Previous chronologically.

The Next button simply moves down the table while Previous moves up. Nothing illogical about it.

Hundreds of professional developers were involved in this software and it has been that way for many years. When it doesn't behave as expected wouldn't it makes sense to reconsider your expectations rather than accuse them of being illogical?
Question Author
The point of this thread was to enable people to list some of the hundreds of amusing quirks of Microsoft software e.g. when it wrongly "corrects" grammar or spelling.

The "previous" arrow was just an example.

1 to 5 of 5rss feed

Do you know the answer?

Microsoft illogic

Answer Question >>

Related Questions

Sorry, we can't find any related questions. Try using the search bar at the top of the page to search for some keywords, or choose a topic and submit your own question.