Vista: Behind the scenes

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Vista will follow a pattern of being less reliable,

when compared to it's predecessors.

For example.

NT4.0 dragged video drivers into the kernel.
Thus introducing more variables, and external factors into the overall reliability. (A manageable problem for servers, with few video interactions.)

W2K. Decent but microsoft added even more stuff, and included a whole bunch of buggy server stuff in their pro version. (An instant hack)

XP almost un-usable. Requires weekly reboots(servers), daily for workstations to recover lost resources + prevent secondary issues. Versioning and control over patches for average users is a freaking Nightmare. (Not all M$ patches are beneficial... WGA .. IE7.. WMP..)

Vista is going to be even worse. More components&calls and more interactions. The addition of randomized kernel module load order will probably make it even more unstable and unpredictable.

====

Why is this happening?

Microsoft enhancements have outstripped the testing technology it received via the partnership it had with IBM (1987 -- 1994.)

Each time they add a new kernel or other system feature, they add to the matrix of system interactions. They attempt to compensate by adding with more personal, time, test machines, and faster CPU's, but there is a limit. Since adding features to the kernel/core OS increases the potential test matrix by an exponential function, with the ability to expand test technology stuck in a somewhat linear fashion.

Some data points..

NT 3.1.. 200 testers
NT 3.5.. 230 testers.
NT 3.51.325 testers.
NT 4.0.. 700 testers.
Win2K.. 1700 testers. (1,000 stress test systems)
WinXP.. 5000 testers. (20,000 stress test systems)
Vista... (I haven't looked)

Most of those test personal are assigned to adding to the automated stress test matrix, and performing various end user QC for each build.

There is a limit to the stress testing terminology I created for the IBM/Microsoft partnership. Microsoft has past the point of diminishing returns and it's testing strategy is no longer sufficient to produce reliabe/usable OS products.

Posted by: thetruth_z   Posted on: 11/08/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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