4 ms·

Seems like you could've achieved the end-goal by just warning of the danger and coming across like their safety is your primary concern rather than finding the

Seems like you could've achieved the end-goal by just warning of the danger and coming across like their safety is your primary concern rather than finding the leaks, i.e.: "Build 97241 contains a potentially fatal bug that could wipe your computer. If you are using Build 97241, please upgrade it to a more recent build or otherwise cease using this build immediately. We do not care how you acquired this build. We simply do not want you bricking your computer."

Locke1689 10y ago
This does not work.
devopsproject 10y ago
Have you ever taken a support phone call? Many people won't read a simple error message, let alone a message that includes numbers and other "technical mumbo jumbo" customer: I'm trying print and it just says "error" me: It just says error? customer: yes me: Are there any other words or error numbers? customer: yeah, it says "No printers are installed. Add a printer and try again" me: facepalm Their solution works because it communicates a lot while saying very little
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  How many of those types of users stay abreast of the latest preview builds from Microsoft?
  - Klathmon 10y ago
    Those with friends, family, or an IT worker that's a bit too clever with saving money.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
anyfoo 10y ago
This may have been long before the Internet was the information channel for those kinds of things that it is today. Even if it was today and such a note was published on the Internet, do you think that people who use leaked builds--in at least semi-production settings even--would see that note, much less actively seek it out?
munchbunny 10y ago
The problem is that no matter how hard you try, a lot of people will end up with both your unfinished software and unrealistic expectations about it. Just look at how some gamers talk about bugs in early access or beta releases of games. I imagine in Windows' case, some enterprising individuals who don't know better will end up installing these builds on various computers, and you end up with a large group of users on the wrong build who: 1. Expect better quality than the pre-release build provides. 2. Blame Microsoft for their pre-release build breaking. Raymond Chen also mentions a third case where the pre-release build messes up other parts of the network... so now you've got: 3. Somebody else blaming this guy for something he genuinely thinks is Microsoft's fault. And then if you put out a warning message, it's typically ignored because the software is 99% working until catastrophic failure. And then you still get blamed by unreasonable users who then spread the word about how much you suck but conveniently leave out the "leaked pre-release build" part of the story. (If you sense some bitterness, yeah, I've had a few of my own experiences with much less consequential software.) It's a lose-lose situation for Microsoft. I don't envy anybody in that position, regardless of the quality of the final finished product.
hacksonx 10y ago
I was the first to upgrade from Ubuntu 15.10 to 16.04 in the office. I left my computer unlocked with a wallpaper slideshow on the desktop and when I returned everyone asked where I got my wallpapers from. Even though they were getting prompts to upgrade, they didn't until they noticed a changed. And I'm talking about developers here.

Locke1689 10y ago

This does not work.

devopsproject 10y ago

Have you ever taken a support phone call? Many people won't read a simple error message, let alone a message that includes numbers and other "technical mumbo jumbo" customer: I'm trying print and it just says "error" me: It just says error? customer: yes me: Are there any other words or error numbers? customer: yeah, it says "No printers are installed. Add a printer and try again" me: facepalm Their solution works because it communicates a lot while saying very little

cmdrfred 10y ago
How many of those types of users stay abreast of the latest preview builds from Microsoft?
- Klathmon 10y ago
  Those with friends, family, or an IT worker that's a bit too clever with saving money.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

anyfoo 10y ago

This may have been long before the Internet was the information channel for those kinds of things that it is today. Even if it was today and such a note was published on the Internet, do you think that people who use leaked builds--in at least semi-production settings even--would see that note, much less actively seek it out?

munchbunny 10y ago

The problem is that no matter how hard you try, a lot of people will end up with both your unfinished software and unrealistic expectations about it. Just look at how some gamers talk about bugs in early access or beta releases of games. I imagine in Windows' case, some enterprising individuals who don't know better will end up installing these builds on various computers, and you end up with a large group of users on the wrong build who: 1. Expect better quality than the pre-release build provides. 2. Blame Microsoft for their pre-release build breaking. Raymond Chen also mentions a third case where the pre-release build messes up other parts of the network... so now you've got: 3. Somebody else blaming this guy for something he genuinely thinks is Microsoft's fault. And then if you put out a warning message, it's typically ignored because the software is 99% working until catastrophic failure. And then you still get blamed by unreasonable users who then spread the word about how much you suck but conveniently leave out the "leaked pre-release build" part of the story. (If you sense some bitterness, yeah, I've had a few of my own experiences with much less consequential software.) It's a lose-lose situation for Microsoft. I don't envy anybody in that position, regardless of the quality of the final finished product.

hacksonx 10y ago

I was the first to upgrade from Ubuntu 15.10 to 16.04 in the office. I left my computer unlocked with a wallpaper slideshow on the desktop and when I returned everyone asked where I got my wallpapers from. Even though they were getting prompts to upgrade, they didn't until they noticed a changed. And I'm talking about developers here.