Microsoft now faces a big Windows 10 quality test after a failed update

Microsoft has disconnected its latest Windows 10 update after some users have complained about missing files. This is the latest in a series of incidents with regular patches and larger updates to Microsoft's Windows 10 that have caused problems for some PC users this year. While Microsoft is testing Windows 10 with millions of beta testers, there are signs that this public feedback loop is not always working. Earlier this year, Microsoft delayed its Windows 10 update of April 2018 due to last-minute Blue Screen of Death issues. He then had to solve the freezing problems of desktop computers and Chrome after shipping it to more than 600 million machines.

Microsoft is now faced with questions about how these updates caused big problems and why the company did not test them. These questions are particularly relevant because it seems that Microsoft has been warned of these two major bugs before the company releases the April and October 2018 updates. The reports of the Office Freezing bug were submitted several times testers at the beginning of the year, but do not seem to have been reported as a more serious problem as they were not voted.

Similarly, the recent problem of data deletion has been reported in month return reports before Microsoft released the update of October 2018 last week. We still do not know how many people are affected by this current problem, but it is enough to have forced Microsoft to completely remove the update – an unusual step for the company.

The big change of Microsoft for Windows 10 was listening to its customers after the disaster of Windows 8. Instead of developing the operating system behind closed doors, the company opened it to everyone for that he quickly tests version access and helps to report issues. It was a discouraging prospect for Terry Myerson, then head of Windows, who admitted in a 2015 interview with The edge that "you publish it when it is not done, then you get all kinds of reactions and other things that, to your knowledge, are broken".

Microsoft may have relied too heavily on its Windows Insider for Windows 10 program. Microsoft has virtually eliminated its Software Testing Engineer (STE) roles for Windows during a huge series of layoffs a year before the Windows version 10. Instead, it favored developers testing their own work or reports from the Windows Insider comment program.

Dan Seifert / The Verge

Hal Berenson, who has worked for several years for Microsoft as a Distinguished Engineer, believes that there are three possibilities for sending this latest data deletion bug to the public. "(1) They could not isolate the problem and decided that it was rare enough to be shipped anyway. (2) The automated filtering tools have failed to understand that it was a serious problem despite their scarcity. (3) They put a fix, but that did not solve all the cases ", Berenson says in a tweet. "My current vote is for third place because I have seen this happen many times in my career."

Microsoft has not yet revealed exactly why this removal bug was included in the Windows 10 October 2018 update, but it is unlikely that the company will do it. A support article reveals that Microsoft is investigating "isolated reports" of documents missing after the installation of the Windows 10 October 2018 update. Microsoft Windows Insider Chief, Dona Sarkar, said Affected users should call Microsoft Technical Support, which has the "tools to help you get back into top condition."

Anyway, the comment program of Microsoft Windows 10 is not very aesthetic. Microsoft was bold in its movement to allow anyone to test Windows 10, but now it must recognize some of these issues with the Windows software quality. Windows 10 is also facing a number of issues related to regular monthly security update patches, which have even forced the old company, Susan Bradley, to send an open letter to Microsoft earlier this year. The company's response to these issues is now a big test for Windows 10, which has generally been well received. If Microsoft really listens to customers, now is the time to prove it.