> leaving IT experts wondering, ‘Why would you pick Microsoft?’
Well I can tell you why people pick MS Authenticator - it's because microsoft basically forces it on you, uses dark patterns to avoid letting you use any other standard OTP app and doesn't give admins the tools to disable it.
As an admin, I can disable every single MFA method individually, including TOTP, but Microsoft Authenticator is force-enabled. When users go to enable TOTP (or are forced to), the option is called "Microsoft Authenticator", not something more generic. The QR code they get is not a standard TOTP one, so any other client will reject it. There's a small link below it letting you "use another app" which finally gives you a real TOTP QR code. This is INSANE!
Well I can tell you why people pick MS Authenticator - it's because microsoft basically forces it on you, uses dark patterns to avoid letting you use any other standard OTP app and doesn't give admins the tools to disable it.
As an admin, I can disable every single MFA method individually, including TOTP, but Microsoft Authenticator is force-enabled. When users go to enable TOTP (or are forced to), the option is called "Microsoft Authenticator", not something more generic. The QR code they get is not a standard TOTP one, so any other client will reject it. There's a small link below it letting you "use another app" which finally gives you a real TOTP QR code. This is INSANE!