Barnacules Nerdgasm
1 HN recommender · recommended in 3 months, 2020–2024
16:26 · 631K views · Sep 18, 2019
A former Microsoft SDET with 15 years on Windows gives his view on why Windows 10 updates keep shipping with bugs. He points to changes in how the company tests its software.
HN cites it as a first-hand account of Microsoft's QA cuts and reliance on automated tests in threads about buggy Windows updates.
3 comments from Hacker News
This article immediately reminded me of a video I saw a while ago.[1] The long and short - MS basically laid off the staff that tested Windows, and much of it is automated nowadays (I bet the MBA educated executive at MS who was responsible for that got PHAT bonus, at the expense of Windows customers and laid off testing staff, of course). Seems like it happened in 2015, which is why it seems that windows updates have been more unstable in the last couple of years.[2] I really want to like windows, but Apple's M1 and Linux's community make it hard to ever love windows again. Oh well, I guess I will be using Macbooks for the rest of my life. Which, actually, isn't so bad I guess. FWIW - I would say this is unacceptable on microsoft's part. Windows is the default operating system of corporate america, department of defense, etc. Imagine if an update would brick Wells Fargo or the US Army. [1] this video [2] [LINK]
Whenever I see these kind of headlines, I expect some deep analysis of said topic, but it then it disappoints with your average article. With that said I remember Barnacules Nerdgasm talking about this and essentially it came down to MSFT relying too much on tests and not real-life usage[1]. [1] this video
> Microsoft did not "cut off most of its QA" Yes they did. Hear about it first hand from an ex windows software tester: this video [LINK]