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Microsoft Introduces Build Cadence Selection With Windows 10

Posted by Soulskill on from the putting-a-ring-on-it dept.

jones_supa writes: Microsoft has just released Windows 10 TP build 9860. Along with the new release, Microsoft is introducing an interesting cadence option for how quickly you will receive new builds. The "ring progression" goes from development, to testing, to release. By being in the slow cadence, you will get more stable builds, but they will arrive less often. By choosing the fast option, it allows you to receive the build on the same day that it is released. As a quick stats update, to date Microsoft has received over 250,000 pieces of feedback through the Windows Feedback tool, 25,381 community forum posts, and 641 suggestions in the Windows Suggestion Box.

19 of 112 comments (clear)

  1. It's great to see so much community feedback by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Hopefully all this community feedback translates into functional changes in the operating system. They made a huge mistake with Windows 8 by relying on the standard Windows 7 feedback mechanism (that seemingly most people turned off) so this looks like a much better solution with much broader participation.

    1. Re:It's great to see so much community feedback by ArcadeMan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      OS/2?

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    2. Re:It's great to see so much community feedback by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think it's actually working, as they seem to actually be working on things that people are asking for. Testing on a very broad scale makes a lot of sense for a Windows release, since they obviously don't have that "Apple magic" which seems to be able to intuit what people want before they ask for it. You might as well instead let people give real feedback on small, incremental changes (and apparently they've been talking to their business customers very early in the process). It's a lot less sexy, but it's fundamentally pretty sound.

      Of course, they're still stubbornly refusing to bring back Aero, which a lot of people really want. I don't particularly need a specific theme back, but I still think the flat & square look is a ridiculous designer-forced fad, and hopefully we'll see the end of it soon. I'm not going to update my Mac mini to Yosemite until I have to because Apple is drinking the same damn Kool-Aid at the moment.

      I think backtracking on that particular theme is a bit dicey for them, though, because many of their internal applications bought into that ridiculous theme as well, so I think it would be problematic for too many egos to toss the "modern" theme too quickly. Microsoft Visual Studio is a good example where they jumped into that sort of theming whole hog, pissed off all their users, and are slowing backtracking away from their original designs and more towards VS2010, which most people seemed to really like.

      Make no mistake, Microsoft is the same old same old. The only reason they're listening to their users is because their users flipped them the bird, financially speaking, after seeing Windows 8, and they can't afford to piss people off too much or they'll really start looking seriously for alternatives. One good thing about corporations is that they're entirely predictable when faced with the threat of declining revenues: they suddenly become very customer-centric.

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      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    3. Re:It's great to see so much community feedback by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

      Hopefully all this community feedback translates into functional changes in the operating system. They made a huge mistake with Windows 8 by relying on the standard Windows 7 feedback mechanism (that seemingly most people turned off) so this looks like a much better solution with much broader participation.

      Because Microsoft has a great track record of paying atterntion to feedback.

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      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    4. Re:It's great to see so much community feedback by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because Microsoft has a great track record of paying atterntion to feedback.

      They don't have a record of doing widespread public tech previews with extensive feedback programs either, but they're doing it now. While we're on the subject what's that operating system that does public tech previews, asks for feedback and *doesn't* listen to the torrent of complaints? Oh yeah, Debian!

    5. Re:It's great to see so much community feedback by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Because Microsoft has a great track record of paying atterntion to feedback.

      Microsoft is running scared. It doesn't look like it because they're so big, but they're seeing their business nibbled away so they're moving as fast as their massive bulk will allow. At this point, they're probably desperate enough to attempt serious measures like listening to their customers.

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  2. Re:Does it rape your privacy by Barlo_Mung_42 · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's not rape when you are giving full consent.

  3. Community involvement is nice by DemonOnIce · · Score: 2

    This is a good approach from Microsoft, they finally listened to its users.

    1. Re:Community involvement is nice by tehlinux · · Score: 2

      Windows 8 was my idea. Sorry guys, dropped the ball on that one.

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    2. Re:Community involvement is nice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      But you are not forced to send big bucks to Linux foundation either. If the Microsoft does not give monetary incentive for doing their testing, I don't see how this system could work with Windows. How would the paying users be otherwise tempted to use their time for free doing the QA for Microsoft?

  4. Re:Does this work? by DaveM753 · · Score: 2, Funny

    No. Windows is a dog.

  5. Aero yet by Billly+Gates · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I am waiting for it's return and more sane not all blinding white and borderless pastel colors. Tabs in explorer not implemented yet either.

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    1. Re:Aero yet by lgw · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Tabs suck - switching between explorers using the task bar (when set up properly to not combine windows on the taskbar) is good.

      What explorer has lacked since Windows 3.1 is two panes in explorer, to simplify moving/sorting stuff between directories. Yeah, you can snap an explorer to each side of the desktop these days but that only works properly if you have just 1 monitor. If I could easily tile explorers on one monitor in a multi-mon setup, that would be far less annoying.

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    2. Re:Aero yet by karnal · · Score: 2

      What's even MORE AWESOME is that control-f in Outlook "forwards" emails; yet you use Control-E (what??) to "find". That frustrates me to no end every day.

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      Karnal
  6. oh boy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Sticking with windows for software compatibility, full blown and rich feature drivers(video, audio, tv adapter, printer), productive suits(adobe creative suit and autodesk), VS 2013, office 2013, gaming, media center for tv adapter, easy installing software no dependency issues.

    I'm not a big fan of the flat color look but I do like the Metro experience. I just hope MS gets rid of the app title bar and context menu for the Metro since the old desktop is coming back and there is no more need trying to turn the Metro into the old desktop way. I never liked the MS start menu or the Aero which strains my eyes. Kde with all the effects barely strains my eyes.

    I would drop Windows in a minute If all the things I need were available on Linux or even BSD(freebsd, pc-bsd). I have always liked the themes, desktop customizations, the many DE's for linux. MS have always done things half-ass, windows 7 no second taskbar for dual monitor.

    1. Re:oh boy by Roadstar · · Score: 2

      MS have always done things half-ass, windows 7 no second taskbar for dual monitor.

      This is actually fixed in Windows 8. I was a bit surprised to see that Windows 8 (and 8.1) in the desktop mode are better than Windows 7 when it comes to multiple displays.

  7. Re:Does it rape your privacy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Opt-out instead of opt-in is still attempted rape.

    It is opt-in, you can't even get into the program and download the software without going through the pages that explicitly telling you what the program is and what they collect. This is not buried in a EULA or a document written in legalese, it is in plain English written very clearly so if you have gone through that and still applied for the program and still downloaded and run the software then you have indisputably opted in, it could not be any more clear.

  8. Re:So much feedback and yet Microsoft ignores it a by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not surprising about this post, or that it's modded insightful. After all, if anyone bother to read TFA, they'd see that Microsoft is already implementing user-requested changes. But hey, don't let facts ruin a good MS bashing.

    Animation for switching desktops. One of the pieces of feedback that you gave us was that it was hard to know when you were switching desktops. We addressed your feedback by adding an animation to make it clear that you are switching. Check it out by creating some new desktops and moving between them.

    --
    Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
  9. Re:So much feedback and yet Microsoft ignores it a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    But animation is bad! I always make sure my computer has 16+GB of RAM and top of the line processor and video cards, but am very angry if any of it gets used.