From: owner-softquality@EECS.Berkeley.EDU Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 14:13:37 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <200210032113.OAA24630@dhcp.EECS.Berkeley.EDU> [169.229.60.163]) by dhcp.EECS.Berkeley.EDU (8.9.1a/8.9.3) with ESMTP id KAA24010 for <softquality@dhcp.EECS.Berkeley.EDU>; Thu, 3 Oct 2002 10:13:55 -0700 (PDT) Received: from EECS.Berkeley.EDU (localhost.Berkeley.EDU [127.0.0.1]) by relay1.EECS.Berkeley.EDU (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id KAA08844 for <softquality@dhcp.EECS.Berkeley.EDU>; Thu, 3 Oct 2002 10:13:54 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mindbender.davido.com (mindbender.davido.com [208.25.77.151]) by EECS.Berkeley.EDU (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id KAA08839 for <softquality@eecs.berkeley.edu>; Thu, 3 Oct 2002 10:13:52 -0700 (PDT) Received: from THINKBIG (thinkbig.davido.com [208.25.77.156]) by mindbender.davido.com (mindbender) with SMTP id KAA07626 for <softquality@eecs.berkeley.edu>; Thu, 3 Oct 2002 10:12:57 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <010a01c26b00$3f0bdfb0$9c4d19d0@THINKBIG> From: "David L. Oppenheimer" <davidopp@cs.berkeley.edu> To: <softquality@eecs.berkeley.edu> Subject: Fw: NYTimes.com Article: Microsoft Reports Progress in Averting Computer Crashes Date: Thu, 3 Oct 2002 10:13:17 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000 Sender: owner-softquality@EECS.Berkeley.EDU Precedence: bulk An article in today's NY Times about Microsoft's [Office] Watson bug reporting system. 1% of bugs cause 50% of crashes. Oh, and according to Ballmer, "Even a relatively simple software product today has millions of lines of code" !! That certainly something about the scalability requirements for software engineering tools... David > Microsoft Reports Progress in Averting Computer Crashes > > October 3, 2002 > By JOHN MARKOFF > > > > SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 2 - Microsoft today released data about > its Watson online error-reporting service, which the > company says has had a significant impact on increasing the > stability of its software. > > The company has struggled in recent years to improve its > credibility in the face of an industry reputation for > error-prone programs. > > Microsoft said that the quality of its software had > improved as a result of the work of programmers in its > Office group who produced the Watson system, which reports > and then transmits to Microsoft real-world data about > customer crashes. > > Today Microsoft released a copy of a message sent to some > customers by its chief executive, Steven A. Ballmer, > detailing the service and describing it as a new pipeline > for customer feedback. > > In the letter, Mr. Ballmer drew parallels between his first > job, where he marketed brownie and blueberry muffin mixes > at Proctor & Gamble, and the challenges in pleasing > customers at a software company like Microsoft. > > "Satisfying customers is what it's all about with > technology products, too," he wrote. > > The data from Watson has offered some surprises, he wrote. > For example, Microsoft has discovered that 1 percent of the > software errors cause 50 percent of the crashes users > experience. The company said it had received error reports > about half a million separate programs. > > The company has used the reporting technology while testing > its new products. During the testing period for its Visual > Studio .Net application that was released in February, > error reporting permitted the company to log and fix 74 > percent of all crashes. The software also permits Microsoft > to assist outside software developers. About 450 companies > have taken advantage of the database of error reports to > fix problems. > > After a program or operating system crash, users are > confronted with a dialog box that gives them the option of > reporting crash details. > > Some users said that the error system itself can be an > irritation. > > Mr. Ballmer's letter went on to point out that software > errors, or "bugs," are inevitable. > > "Let's acknowledge a sad truth about software: any code of > significant scope and power will have bugs in it," he said. > "Even a relatively simple software product today has > millions of lines of code that provide many places for bugs > to hide. That's why our customers still encounter bugs > despite the rigorous and extensive stress testing and beta > testing we do." > > He acknowledged that despite Microsoft's assurances that it > has taken pains to protect customer privacy and that only > crash data is reported, some customers still have privacy > concerns about the service. > > Software reliability experts are also skeptical about an > error-reporting system if it is not accompanied by > fundamental changes in programming techniques. > > "This is just throwing good money after bad if the > programming techniques that create the problems in the > first place are not fixed," said Peter Neumann, a computer > scientist and a software reliability expert at SRI > International in Menlo Park, Calif. > > http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/03/technology/03SOFT.html?ex=1034664105&ei=1& en=85417ef1e9d22d20 >
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