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Microsoft's Lack of Nightly Builds For IE
Ricky writes "Many wonder why Microsoft doesn't offer nightly builds of Internet Explorer — or at least something more frequent than months-to-years. Ars talks with Microsoft's general manager for IE, who says the IE9 development cycle will look much the same as previous versions. Not a great idea."
Many wonder why Microsoft doesn't offer nightly builds of Internet Explorer
Um, because they never have and never will?
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
What does MS offer nightly builds for??? It's just not how they work. They're a typical monolithic development house that deals only with releases and occasionally lets beta code out. There are benefits to the approach like not trying to shoot a moving target when it comes to bugs etc. People who've grown up with agile seem to think it's the only way to do quality assurance.
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Umm, isn't that what Update Tuesdays are for? Constantly patching IE along with other OS updates?
Life is not for the lazy.
WTF? Most companies don't release nightly builds of their software. Why on earth are we singling out Microsoft, and only one of their products at that? Infrequent releases are the norm, not the exception, and while you may argue that it should change, it's ludicrous to single out one program among thousands for following the standard practice.
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
Additionally, the article seems to take some things for granted...
the reality is that every other browser has a more regular release cycle than IE does, and that keeps them relevant.
I guess Opera's release and development cycle(s) is why it is so popular!
The result is a strong perception that IE is lagging behind, no matter how great the major release versions are.
The perception that IE is lagging behind has nothing to do with a bad development cycle, it's more tied to ... bad development and a not-very-good product.
and the browser's updates are pushed through Windows Update. The actual browser doesn't have its own updating system, and this is a large part of the reason that over 40 percent of users are still using IE6 and IE7.
That's an interesting assertion. The only backup he gives are numbers for browser stats.
On the whole, this seems like one guy doing an editorial and talking off the cuff. That's how it struck me, anyways.
"Many wonder why Microsoft doesn't offer nightly builds of Internet Explorer."
Whoever "Many" is, they seem to always be interviewed by Ars and FoxNews.
The nightlies of Microsoft Bob basically killed all positive hype for the program. I don't want to see Microsoft Bob in nighties! It was bad enough seeing Bill Gates wiggling his ass for the cameras.
Oh, nightlies ...
I'll have to ask Clippy for linux and get back to you on that ...
Why is the finger always at Microsoft? I vote we embargo the use of the word Microsoft on Slashdot, say, for a month. Usually any Microsoft related post is biased and ill-spirited - getting very old. There are countless software vendors that do not release nightly builds. As much as I adore Slashdot, all the MS haters on here often make me feel as if I'm associating myself with a 'new low' of computer users (sometimes). Kinda like finding yourself in the company of a bunch of racists. It's very fashionable on \. to hate Microsoft. Don't like their stuff?...simply use something else and STFU. I do agree with the article's opinion of saying the update process Microsoft uses is broken - I think Microsoft can do better.
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Next week we can discuss the outrage that stems from Microsoft's refusal to offer free back massages on the New York subway.