This year, the school-wide system of using Google suite, with helpful apps like Google Docs and Google Drive, has abruptly been replaced with the Microsoft suite.  Since this year’s juniors unfortunately will never know the joy of taking live notes in Dr. Easterling’s class or typing up a lab report in AP Chemistry on Google Docs, many seniors feel that this change is very much unwanted and annoying.  I personally agree with this sentiment and set out to find if my opinions were shared with other members of the senior class.  “The switch was kind of painful; I liked the Google user interface more than Microsoft.  I think Microsoft is fine, but it’s harder for us seniors to get accustomed to since we’ve had a year of using Google.  In two or three years, I feel like everyone will have gotten used to Microsoft again,” remarked Loveish Sarolia.

The switch is a result of the state of Mississippi’s Attorney General, Jim Hood, suing Google for possible illegal collection of data on minors, such as ourselves.  Since MSMS is directly under the Mississippi Board of Education, MSMS students and faculty cannot continue to use Google products in an official manner until the state’s lawsuit is resolved.

However, the switch itself might be more difficult for faculty and administrative staff than on the seniors.  Teachers have had to switch from using Google Classroom and Google Drive to trying out different alternatives, like Canvas or Microsoft Teams.  The school counselors have had to quickly adapt in finding out how to use the calendar app so that students could make their desired schedule change appointments.

The general consensus on the switch has been rather negative so far: “I only have bad feelings towards Microsoft right now,” remarked Connor Chitmon.  “[The switch] is kind of bad; everything seemed more set up and organized when we were using Google.  The difficulty could be just us getting used to [Microsoft], but I feel like everything’s kind of ‘meh’ right now,” stated Daniel Bicknell.  My biggest complaint about the Microsoft suite is the user interface: it seems rather clunky and slow compared to its predecessor and doesn’t allow for effective live editing between multiple people, hindering collaborative efforts.

I personally believe that while the switch could have been handled much better in terms of advance warning given, everyone will eventually become accustomed to using Microsoft over Google in the coming years.