4 ms·

> Maybe they need to poach a few people from Microsoft to learn how it's done. It seems Microsoft needs some help in this department as well https://support.mi

by avtar 7y ago

> Maybe they need to poach a few people from Microsoft to learn how it's done. It seems Microsoft needs some help in this department as well https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/4500988/windows-update-blocked-because-of-drive-reassignment https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/4500988/windows-upd...

oblio 7y ago
So you're telling me an OS with 1.2+ billion users has bugs? I'm shocked! :) On a more serious note, Microsoft is (was?) famous for its QA processes. They have (had?) huge computer farms, tens of thousands of machine to be able to QA with every strange configuration out there. Windows, despite the hate it gets, is one of the most QAd pieces of software out there. And considering the shoddy architecture it has to support for backwards compatibility (CP/M, MS-DOS, Win32), it works amazingly well.
- tonyjstark 7y ago
  Yea, I always wondered about the (frankly amazing) backwards compatibility. Windows could probably be a much better system if they just get rid of support for these old systems. Same for these super old MS-Word formats. Doesn't need to be as drastic as Apple does it, though.
  - kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
    The super old MS Word formats are just a memory dump of internal data structures. The Modern DOCX just converts XML into that same representation along with whatever new features have been added. There is little reason to remove the old format when it is still very much an integral part of Word internals.
- avtar 7y ago
  My impression was that they have changed the way potential releases are tested internally https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/10/23/microsoft_windows_10_crisis/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/10/23/microsoft_windows_1... The last update was blocked since files were being deleted in users' Document directories and now this external drive issue. Both cases involve some fairly common configurations.

by avtar 7y ago

oblio 7y ago

So you're telling me an OS with 1.2+ billion users has bugs? I'm shocked! :) On a more serious note, Microsoft is (was?) famous for its QA processes. They have (had?) huge computer farms, tens of thousands of machine to be able to QA with every strange configuration out there. Windows, despite the hate it gets, is one of the most QAd pieces of software out there. And considering the shoddy architecture it has to support for backwards compatibility (CP/M, MS-DOS, Win32), it works amazingly well.

tonyjstark 7y ago
Yea, I always wondered about the (frankly amazing) backwards compatibility. Windows could probably be a much better system if they just get rid of support for these old systems. Same for these super old MS-Word formats. Doesn't need to be as drastic as Apple does it, though.
- kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
  The super old MS Word formats are just a memory dump of internal data structures. The Modern DOCX just converts XML into that same representation along with whatever new features have been added. There is little reason to remove the old format when it is still very much an integral part of Word internals.
avtar 7y ago
My impression was that they have changed the way potential releases are tested internally https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/10/23/microsoft_windows_10_crisis/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/10/23/microsoft_windows_1... The last update was blocked since files were being deleted in users' Document directories and now this external drive issue. Both cases involve some fairly common configurations.