4 ms·
When Microsoft laid off much of their test dev teams 1 or 2 years ago, was the plan to roll out beta code to everyone and outsource QA? Genuine question. I mea
by cm3 10y ago
When Microsoft laid off much of their test dev teams 1 or 2 years ago, was the plan to roll out beta code to everyone and outsource QA? Genuine question.
I mean, if they're serious about this, making Windows open source would make sense, so that external testers can also contribute patches for consideration.
- yuhong 10y agoSelling Windows to a non-profit foundation would be the first step toward this, though even after then it would not be trivial.
- ChrisRus 10y agoI doubt that Windows will ever be open sourced. I think it's more likely that they continue to integrate Linux API's into the commercial OS product and slowly morph into a their own Linux distro when most of the legacy code has been replaced.
- yuhong 10y agoAre you really proposing to kill Win32 completely?
- existencebox 10y agoDisclaimer: MSFtie, who came in prior to that switch as an SDET, and was converted to a SWE during the layoffs. In case your genuine was genuine, I'll give a somewhat serious answer: The intention was that the SDET work would be picked up by SWEs who would be responsible with dev and test. Ops also is slowly being absorbed in this manner (this current wonderful permutation of the word "devops") As to my thoughts on the transition... let the assertion that my home machines are still (happily) running 7 speak for itself; and I say that with unfortunate tone in that I'm a big fan of hyper-v integration/DX12.
- yuhong 10y agoI wonder if part of the problem is that WinSE is expensive.
- cm3 10y agoThanks for the response, and yes my question was genuine. My thought on Windows >7 is that 8 and 10 have introduced many desirable improvements in various subsystems, but unfortunately one cannot have the old user experience (classic shell) with, say, new core subsystems and core system apps. Thankfully, I don't depend on Windows, so it doesn't affect me directly, though the times I have interacted with Windows 10 on a friend's laptop, I couldn't believe how much it regressed for power users. Simple things like login and logout are totally messed up now, as is the waste of screen real estate and Windows 1.0 style widgets with a flat theme plus low-contrast color palette, large-white regions. To top it off, even if one creates a custom install image with tools like nLite, Microsoft is known to reinstall stuff one absolutely does not want. Finally, the mobile platform inspired data collection services are out of place on the desktop, unless they're opt-in and optionally installed. I once tried to use a Windows 8 tablet when it was new, and I could not figure out how to use the touch interface and there were no indicators, so I concluded that there must be a getting started tutorial one sees on first boot of the device. KDE and GNOME are repeating the same mistakes, by trying to make the desktop something it isn't. It's like trying to turn a PC into an Xbox with a WiiU controller, taking away precise input devices and efficient use of screen space. Making widgets large to suit touch use makes no sense if you control it with a keyboard and mouse.
- perfectfire 10y agoI used to work at Microsoft and have never heard or seen the TLA SWE before. Did mean to type SDE?