I know what you mean. I still use it all the same as my default search, the reason is the bang (!) Operators.
So if the ddg normal search isn't working, I can add a !g and I get the Google version. Or if I want Google maps... Then I just add !gm
The other one I use a lot is wolfram alpha for unit conversions and calculations, just add a !wa
Hacker news search is !HN
Having this one stop shop for many different search types end up being way better than Google, even if somethimes the regular search may not be so great
Probably referring to OWL plugin. However your admins can allow IMAP access to outlook365 and with tbsync, you get full integration for free. OWL is good tho too