Is there anybody who can argue the 'for' case for having this on all the time without recourse?
What is the default? Do the defaults differ across versions? How do you keep it consistent across computers and installations? What if you actually need the function ad hoc?
This reminds me of CSV export. I haven't used Windows for a decade but I remember that if you wanted to change how decimal numbers were exported you had to change the locale and reboot the computer. To change a setting in Excel. That is insane. Sprinkling checkbox patches isn't too far from this.
The old behavior
> Do the defaults differ across versions?
No
> How do you keep it consistent across computers and installations?
It should be per-cell, so it's document specific.
> What if you actually need the function ad hoc?
Every option in the formatting pane is ad-hoc, this wouldn't be any different.
https://insider.microsoft365.com/en-us/blog/control-data-con...
Then I closed it and thought of a few other date-like strings to try and this time the option had disappeared! Every date-looking string was instantly turned into date! I tried a few other times and this setting is gone. WTF is that about?