Microsoft’s lack of quality control is out of control • The Register

OPINION I have a habit of ironically referring to Microsoft’s various self-induced whoopsies as examples of the company’s “legendary approach to quality control.” While the robustness of Windows NT in decades past might qualify as “legendary”, anybody who has had to use the company’s wares in recent years might quibble with the word “quality.”

As repeated Azure outages due to configuration errors have shown, “control” is perhaps also inappropriate these days.

It’s difficult to pinpoint precisely where it went wrong for Microsoft when it comes to quality. In 2014, the company decided it could do without many of its testers. Mary Jo Foley reported that “a good chunk” were being laid off. Microsoft didn’t need to bother with traditional methods of testing code. Waterfall was out. Agile was in.

The consequences have been difficult to avoid. There was the infamous Windows 10 Update Of The Damned (also known as the Windows 10 October 2018 Update), which deleted files, and despite Microsoft slowing down the release cadence after that, quality does not seem to have improved. Every few weeks, the company’s “legendary approach to quality control” is evident, whether through a self-inflicted wound resulting from issues with an update or, worse, the company’s cloud collapsing due to a faulty configuration change being rolled out.

While allowances can be made for the former – the Windows ecosystem consists of hundreds of millions of devices, and some issues are inevitable (even if others are inexcusable) – the same cannot be said for the latter. Sure, Azure is vast, but it should be a known quantity as far as Microsoft is concerned. Therefore, repeatedly rolling out changes to production that leave customers with inoperative services is more than questionable quality control; it calls into question the company’s competence.

As the saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me over and over again … well, I guess that makes me a Microsoft customer.”

So perhaps it is time to retire the phrase “legendary approach to quality control” and replace it with something more befitting the situation?

This is where The Register readership comes in, particularly those who have been at the sharp, pointy end of Redmond’s antics.

How would you describe the quality of Microsoft’s wares these days, and the amount of testing that has been done before the company’s latest emission?

Sadly, the word “pisspoor” might confuse the international audience, and naughty words could trip firewall filters.

But things seem to have moved beyond “legendary approach to quality control.” ®