What do we want? Windows 10! When do we want it? Probably sooner than the development cycle permits! With Windows 10, Microsoft has painted itself to be a benevolent god, ready to bestow gifts from the future on those willing to put up with the 'quirks' of the preview testing process. But the fact that something is free, does not mean that people are not going to complain -- far from it, in fact.
Aside from complaints about the features of Windows 10 itself, one thing that Windows Insiders (an 'exclusive' club has to have a name, after all) cite as a major bugbear is the speed at which new builds are pumped out. Despite the existence of a fast ring, builds are still trickling out painfully slowly. The new 'all-ears' Microsoft listens to its customers. As such the latest email from Gabe Aul promising -- yet again -- that "we're going to send out builds more frequently" comes as little surprise, but is pressure from the Windows 10 fanboys causing Microsoft to rush, and what effect will this have on the final product?
With Windows 10, Microsoft is playing a very dangerous game. This is the first version of Windows for which the company has exposed the development process to scrutiny. It has been presented in the framework of giving users the opportunity to provide feedback and determine the future direction of Windows, but it's fair to say that it has probably exposed Microsoft to greater attention and demands than it was probably expecting. In the face of criticism about the way certain features look or work, Microsoft has responded -- in some cases -- but making populist changes.
Now, following demands from the baying mob, the company has conceded that it needs to produce new builds faster. A new email sent out by Gabe Aul says: "Based on your feedback, we're going to send out builds more frequently to Windows Insiders that have selected 'Fast' preview builds".
Who is in charge here? If customers are driving the pace of development, it's a case of the lunatics running the asylum. Rather than sticking to its guns and keeping development going at a steady pace -- a pace that is needed to ensure quality -- it appears that Microsoft is bowing to pressure and putting the pedal to the metal. Is this good? No -- it's worrying. There's a real danger that Microsoft is really going to rush now and end up pushing out a big steaming pile of shit. The ever-demanding preview testers are effectively developmental laxatives... and we all know what laxative produce.
Of course we know that development doesn't stop when a public preview is pushed out of the door; Microsoft is not sitting back, twiddling its thumbs until a certain amount of feedback is received, but there is a very real danger that the company feels pressure to get the next build into the hands of testers. The latest catalyst to the peristaltic bowel movement that will ultimately plop out a 'finished' version of Windows 10 is the 'slip up' by AMD when the company's CEO revealed Windows 10 will "launch at the end of July."
Way to pile on the pressure!
As my colleague Wayne Williams noted the chances of hitting this deadline -- a mere three months away -- seem painfully slim (well...slenderness is one side-effect of laxatives, after all).
It's very hard to see just how anything approaching a decent version of Windows can be cobbled together in the time that is left. If AMD's announcement is correct, the clock really is ticking now. Of course it is fair to say that even those of us who are part of the Fast Ring, and therefore receiving public builds the fastest, are not exactly on the cutting edge of what's happening with Windows 10. There are several internal rings of development, many of which result in builds that never see the light of day.
Few people who have tried Windows 10 would say that it is anywhere near ready to be unleashed on the general public. There's far more than a bit of spit and polish needed to get Windows 10 up to scratch. There's potential, but there's still a very, very long way to go. It's concerning that Microsoft feels the need to keep its Insiders happy and accelerate the development cycle -- the company has made it very clear that it is most comfortable working at a glacial pace. The faster builds will almost certainly be welcomed -- but don’t forget that we have been promised this before -- but there is a real danger that it will mean compromising quality.
To paraphrase an old maxim: develop in haste, repent at leisure.
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