It’s Not Just Microsoft (Premium)

With 25 years of experience covering Microsoft, I tend to focus a bit heavily on the software giant from Redmond. And one of the big topics this year, of course, has been a decided lack of software quality. Most recently---but not exclusively---with Windows 10 version 1809.

These problems are serious, and they're real. And they continue despite a 6-week gap between the original release of the October 2018 Update---which upgrades your PC to Windows 10 version 1809---and its re-release this past week. As Microsoft documents on its Windows 10 update history website, this update shipped with three fairly serious issues. One is described as a "known issue" while the other two are "upgrade blockers," meaning that they're so serious you won't ever see the Update until they're resolved.

Point being, Microsoft had six weeks to "fix" the October 2018 Update, discovered a second data loss bug while doing so, and yet it still shipped the thing with three other fairly major issues. Software quality at it's finest, ladies and gentlemen.

So here's the thing. We can get outraged at this. We can even start shopping around for other platforms, if you want to get extreme about it. I certainly have enough of a dark, self-destructive streak to consider such things. So there's no judging here.

But know this. It's not just Microsoft.

I've made this observation in the past---because, you know, Microsoft software quality is as enduring and constant a problem as its ineffectual excuses for not explaining them properly---but it's worth making again. For all the stupid shit that we have to put up with this company, the primary factor that has kept Windows 10 and the PC ecosystem afloat in recent years is that the competition is just as terrible.

Worse, actually. I spend a lot of time testing alternate platforms, and I always have: I purchased an Apple iBook in early 2001 specifically so I could test the about-to-be-released Mac OS X and I've purchased and owned more Macs and other Apple gear since then than most Apple fanatics. Most recently, I found that the 2018 MacBook Air and Acer's Chromebook Spin 13 are fantastic, premium devices, and PC alternatives.

And yet. I still prefer Windows very much. And for a variety of reasons that go well beyond familiarity. Other platforms are still very limited, to me, and are not as optimal for the work that I do. So I put up with Microsoft and its inane inability to finish the job. It's like getting punched in the face repeatedly sometimes. And then I come back and I ask for more.

But again. It's not just Microsoft. These other platforms and the companies that make them have all kinds of problems, too. And it's important to remember that while things may always seem greener on the other side of the fence, there are weeds over there, too. And some bigger issues too.

I've reported endlessly on the issues Google has faced trying to release handsets that actually work reliably. Today, I'd like to discuss ...