ERR_QUIC_PROTOCOL_ERROR in Chrome

Chrome users were unable to get to the Google search page and were receiving a "This web page is not available" message.  The page itself displayed an error: ERR_QUIC_PROTOCOL_ERROR

Other web pages loaded fine and Google was accessible from other browsers.

It turns out that the problem was/is an experimental feature called Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) that is designed to speed up secure browsing.   Turning off this feature enabled Google to load correctly in Chrome:

1. Open Chrome
2. Open a new tab
3. Type "chrome://flags/" in the address bar
4. Find "Experimental QUIC protocol"
5. Select "disable" from the drop-down menu
6. Restart Chrome

Microsoft Lync wants to use the OC_KeyContainer_

When opening Lync 2011 I was being presented with the following error:

The fix is to close Lync, navigate to ~/Library/Keychains and remove the OC_KeyContainer file.

Where is the Outlook 2016 for Mac Database?

Outlook 2016 for Mac stores its database in:

~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/

If the application does a database rebuild, it will make a backup copy of the database and place it into the above folder.

Despite what Microsoft says, Office 2016 is just as prone to database problems as Outlook 2011.  The difference is that in Outlook 2016 there is no manual way to do a database backup- the app does them automatically. 

We have found that many users that have been moved from Office 2011 to 2016 are prompted to repair the Outlook database.  In some cases it happened so often that we had to move them back to Office 2011.

In fact, just as I was writing this my Outlook 2016 did a rebuild.  This was after a completely fresh install two days ago.  Thankfully I kept Outlook 2011; it is solid as a rock.

Excel 2016: Spell Check Causing Applicaiton Lock

Office 2016 has been very unstable.  Microsoft is tacitly admitting as much by releasing a steady stream of updates.

One of the persistent problems has been the spell check function in Excel.  Simply put, when you attempted to spell check a worksheet, the application would lock-up.  After a failed spell check, quitting the application normally was impossible; the only way to shut Excel down was to Force Quit it.

The spell check issue persisted despite the ongoing MS updates.  I myself experienced the problem on two separate MBPs and after no less than six removals and reinstalls.  Eventually I found a procedure that seems to have resolved the spell-check nightmare:

• Drag all MS Office 2016 documents to the trash
• Go to ~/Library/Group Containers and delete the following files
• *.office
• *.ms
• *.officeosfwebhost
• Empty trash
• Restart and re-install Office 2016 (applying all updates)

 After performing the above steps Excel spell check is working.  At least until the next MS update.