Broken Windows: Microsoft Keeps Making More Bugs Than Useful Features

Update after update, Microsoft just keeps breaking Windows. More proof that it was a good move, when I dumped Win-Blows for Mac. It was 10 years ago when I went Mac and never looked back.

Where’s Modern Engineering Practices ?

It’s really quite bazaar, and very unforgivable, that this is still going on. What makes it even crazier is that Microsoft has some great technologies in Azure DevOps (formally known as Visual Studio Team Services – VSTS). I led an implementation of the tech to dramatic transform engineering practices and technologies at a software product development company that develops cloud / SaaS and on premise products.

Azure DevOps has some excellent DevOps / Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) tech that can automate code repos, builds, testing and more. And Azure has a ton of tech for hosting services, virtual machines and more.

These constant Windows bugs just boggles the mind. Aren’t they using their own Azure tech to develop, build and test Windows ? If not, that’s just insane and grossly incompetent. In 2020, to not have a full CI/CD / DevOps infrastructure built to automate your software development pipelines is totally nuts. Especially if you’re Microsoft and you develop and sell the tech, and have decades of experience in development tools.

I Went Mac and Never Looked Back

I was a long, looooonnggg, time Windows fan. For more years than I care to admit.

It was the fall of 2009 and I had years and years of Windows headaches, and was at my wits end. Dealing with basic reliability problems constantly. But Windows 7 was about to finally ship in Oct 2009, so I thought I should give Microsoft 1 more chance to fix Windows. I had committed many many years of my life to Windows, and had been an early adopter, so I thought the right thing to do was give it at least 1 more go.

Windows Problem ? Reboot It !!!

Microsoft had screwed around for ages with building Windows on top of DOS and had finally given up that foolish endeavor, although in those times a necessary one. Built a brand new operating system from the ground up with Windows NT. And finally phased out the DOS based crap, ending it with Windows ME. Windows XP was finally a real OS, but Vista was a total disaster. So in 2009, Windows 7 was looking like Microsoft would finally fix that mess. Here’s a Windows release timeline on WikiPedia.

So I purchased my upgrade to Windows 7 and upgraded my Windows XP laptop, hoping desperately it would fix the long standing reliability problems of Windows. And…. crash !!! It didn’t. While certainly an improvement over XP, it was still… well… Win-Blows.

Windows reliability problems were fundamental and constant. Like every other day. It was, and might still be, a regular thing to reboot it, to fix some funky Windows problem. It was a running joke that if someone told you they were having problems with anything on Windows, that you told them to “reboot it”. Even at its worst, macOS just is not at all in the ballpark of that bad. Not enough in the same time zone of that Win-Blows level of awfulness.

Mac Life

In Oct of 2010, I had had enough of Win-Blows. So I bought my first Mac. A 2010 13 inch MacBook Pro. And WOW what a HUGE improvement !!! An improvement in performance, in reliability, and of course in User eXperience (UX). Windows to Mac, was like, a night versus day thing.

To be totally fair, my Mac life hasn’t been perfect. We in the Mac community have been openly griping about software quality going down hill for a few years, at least. But, each time I have some weird macOS thing happen, I remember those Windows days and what an absolute nightmare that was, and I feel lots better. And I am still very happy that I dumped Windows and went Mac.

Since 2010 I’ve been running multiple versions of Windows in virtual machines (VM) on my Macs. While I don’t use Windows as my every day workhorse OS, I still keep my hands in it. And touch it on a regular basis. And when I do have to touch Windows, I hate it. Its just so, sooooo, bad. And has gotten worse since Windows 7. Especially the shockingly bad UX. I can’t speak to reliability so much, since I don’t use Windows as my every day OS. But the Win-Blows UX is just embarrassingly bad.

That 2010 MacBook Pro still works too. There’s that crazy great Apple hardware build quality that runs circles around Win-Blows PCs.

Check Out the Stories

Check out a Google search on Microsoft Windows 10 bugs. Here’s just a few quotes from recent articles on Microsoft’s big bug problems.

Microsoft Just Gave A Billion Users A Reason To Quit Windows 10 – Forbes

Windows 10 users have been having a rough time for a long time. And now Microsoft has just shown why frustrated users should quit.

Microsoft Just Gave A Billion Users A Reason To Quit Windows 10 – Forbes

Microsoft Broke One of Its Most Useful Windows 10 Features With Its Latest Update – Gizmodo

Microsoft has had one heck of a time fixing bugs in its last couple of Windows 10 versions.

Microsoft Broke One of Its Most Useful Windows 10 Features With Its Latest Update – Gizmodo

Windows 10 May 2020 Update plagued by issues with Chrome, printing, and more – Digital Trends

There are some new bugs with the Windows 10 May 2020 Update that could disrupt your experience with Google Chrome, printing, and even the new “Fresh Start” feature of the operating system.
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Despite over one and a half years of beta testing with Windows Insiders, and a more careful measured rollout, the Windows 10 May 2020 Update has still had its fair share of issues.

Windows 10 May 2020 Update plagued by issues with Chrome, printing, and more – Digital Trends

Microsoft promises fix for print-breaking Windows 10 update – IT News

June set of updates brings user headaches.
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Microsoft’s recent Windows 10 version 2004 update arrived with unwelcome “features” for users of the operating system including printing that no longer worked.

Microsoft promises fix for print-breaking Windows 10 update – IT News