Windows Fails 8% of the Time

descubes writes "A Journal du Net article reports that about 8% of Windows sessions require a machine reboot. The relevant quote (translated from french) is: "The average rate of failures requiring a system reboot has been measured at around 8% per session. This number varies widely depending on the version of Windows. Windows 2000 has a failure rate of 4%, and NT4 is at 3%, whereas Windows XP is close to 12%." The study was originally made by Acadys and Microcost and gathered data from 1.2M machines belonging to about one thousand companies over a period of one month in seven different countries."

Comments

Puh-lease

[sethadam1]

I know it's very en vogue to hate Microsoft here, but let's be honest. XP is 1000 times as stable as 2000, but it's with this trade off: device drivers and bad hardware can crash the system.

I've been using XP since the Devil's Own gold disc was out in August 2001, and I've experienced a failure exactly one time. It was due to a bad, unsigned driver.

On the other hand, I have had several reasons to reboot my Windows servers, but in truth, I've had to reboot my Linux servers too. Windows 2003 is a HUGE improvement, and at the same time, my newer Linux servers run for ages without so much as a second glance.

My Linux desktop has lots of applications crash, and frequently - X crashes semi-regularly, and my applications are frequently hit or miss.

The only reason XP needs a reboot more frequently is this: people don't know what they're doing. They don't apply patches, they don't have current AV or spyware protection, and they reboot as the first measure of troubleshooting.

I love Linux, and I want Microsoft to get crushed in court, but I know crap when I hear it. Windows is not as bad a product as it used to be, plain and simple.

Re:Puh-lease

[Hassman]

You are right. In many cases the OS is only as good as the drivers and software that runs on it. I've had a problem with XP maybe once or twice in the past 6 - 9 months...and that was probably due to a bad driver or something.

Plus what is the polling criteria? 12% is awfully high. If this were 95 or 98 I'd be surprised the number was so low. But these numbers are worthless without what the are testing for.

Are the randomly asking users 'how often does your computer crash?' Well, how would a normal 'average-joe' user even know if his computer crashed due to software, driver, or OS mismanagement?

Bah. This is FUD.

Re:Perhaps is the user base of those versions?

[Inf0phreak]

"What is wrong with shutting down at night is the ENORMOUS amount of time Linux takes to boot up!!!! Leave the PC on but set power saving to something sensible, that way you can save money on electricity and be up and running in the morning without the obligatory 5 min wait!" Windows isn't the only OS in the world to be slow at booting. Of course it doesn't really matter if you boot it less than one time per day.

Re:Perhaps is the user base of those versions?

[argent]

if we were to take a look at the professional usage only, where there are IT depts and such supposedly taking care of the machines

That is a funny joke, yes?