Silicon makers have a hard enough time writing drivers for their *own* products. MS thought they could make better drivers for third-party products, products that they didn't design,
Turn it around. MS has a hard enough time writing generic drivers on their own OS. Vendors thought they could make better drivers for Windows, a product they didn't design and don't have source code access to.
The reality is this goes both ways and both sides of the coin have never truly seen what the other side has offered. Also your assertion that only "Silicon" makers write drivers is just silly. For the drivers we're talking about laptops rarely use the reference driver from the silicon vendor.
That's no excusing MS's garbage though considering Lenovo / HP don't have this problem with their drivers.
Having had a few Surface devices there's something very consistent other than their failure rate: Shithouse MS drivers.
A few things I've experienced:
- Any attempt at changing MAC address of the wireless card causes bluescreen. - Surface Pro 3 for the first 6 months of my ownership had bad posterising on the display attributed to horrible MS graphics drivers. You could download Intel Iris Pro drivers from their website and force it to be installed over the MS's garbage but that would reset whenever MS pushed out another update. It was whackamole until MS finally fixed it. - Now the Surface Pro 4 Typecover lists Surface Pro 3 as a compatible device but due to a driver bug in the way it attempts to power up the typecover while folded back, waking the Surface Pro 3 from sleep takes ~15 seconds instead of the instant wake with the Surface in "laptop" orientation, or using a Pro 3 type cover. MS acknowledge the bug in Jan 2016 and promised a fix every month until they stopped promising.
The Surface clones are starting to look mighty interesting now that they are starting to be feature comparable to MS's original.
It's always important to ask, "What evidence would change your mind?"
If evidence was something that convinced everyone there would be no anti-vaxxers. Unfortunately we're living in a world where we see news stories about babies dying and parents none the less thinking they still made the right choice because at least he didn't grow up with teh autism!
Yep, companies are totally the same as the proven history and wealth of medical knowledge we have gained along with the many scientific studies. If you can't separate the two you're really not much better than the anti-vaxxers.
Monsanto is even now busy suppressing evidence that their roundup product causes cancer.
And that just shows that you rely entirely on prejudice rather than scientific fact (just like the anti-vaxxers). Monsato was accused of ghost writing and preventing research from happening, but to date there's zero evidence of Roundup causing cancer. Suppressing research is not the same as proving the opposite.
For whom? Gnome is no longer *power* user friendly. But Linux (and GNOME included) was frigging terrible for the general user populous in terms of friendliness circa 2000s.
Use the correct words. Call it configurable, call it hacker friendly, call it by what functionality you use, but don't pretend that Linux hasn't gotten more "user friendly" in the general sense of a user being able to sit down and do basic things without tearing their hair out.
The only stories we run on Amiga are about the release of a new computer. The comments then always boil down to the same thing:
a) My first computer was an Amiga b) There's places where the original Amiga is still running c) This company is a shell with nothing to do with the Amiga that made the Amiga great. d) This product is too expensive and completely irrelevant. e) This is a shameless Slashvertisement and is about the only Amiga related stories that gets run here anymore.
10 years separation in data points attributed to Uber and Lyft? Has nothing changed in your city in 10 years?
I have the same anecdote you do. It is now far easier to find parking at the local university compared to 10 years ago. There's also several new bus lines, a new bridge making access easier to the southside, far more localised student housing, another university campus on the other side of the city reducing the need for long commutes, significantly more bicycle parking available, and all that ignoring the fact that city demographics change dramatically over 10 years not to mention the generational changes that is the new generation being a) unable to afford cars and b) far more likely to live close to where they need do their daily activities.
Yeah I'm sure some people will catch an Uber, but I'm certain that it won't have even the slightest impact on your carpark.
Vendor seeks user comment. User says "bite-me" Vendor releases product. User whines endlessly about vendor not listening to the community, and processes being undemocratic.
Me? I'm just here for the entertainment. I clicked to the comments looking for someone posting this complaint and was not disappointed.
Pointless anecdote. Extraordinary high failures rates in SSDs point towards problems in your power supply or heating more than anything else. The fact you can't keep them running in industrial applications especially is a sign of this as solid state electronics don't magically degrade outside of the known read/write failure mechanism.
My own anecdote goes the opposite way. We have fun playing frisbie with the left over drive platters from the endless string of failures, and I'm sure every enterprise does as well given that HDD failure is just a given and everyone treats them like a normal part of the business maintenance.
I'll put my name to saying this doesn't just include SSDs, but some 90% of the hardware failures I've seen in industrial systems are due to external problems. 20 year old UPSes, noisy as shit power, overheated power-supplies, earthing designed by the spaghetti monster himself, lack of surge protection, inadequate ventilation, poor dust control, the list just goes on and on. SSDs are sensitive to power issues, that is know and given. Design accordingly and you won't have an issue.
Putting jokes in your software isn't an issue. Putting jokes in a specification or in a protocol on the other hand can have long lasting consequences. Worse still if someone doesn't understand the joke and actually tries to implement it.
This specific case doesn't really matter much as very if any people would actually implement all the error codes and a lot of software cherry picks only the ones that the developers expect. However in general if you put a joke in an specification, someone will read it on the clock, someone will write why they do or don't implement that, someone will approve it, and the end result is billable hours and expenses for others.
Easter eggs in end user software on the other hand... go your hardest, they don't have the same affect on others.
Agreed, and while the 418 code wasn't serious in a general sense (because frankly who actually looks to implement all the codes) it is still dangerous in general sense having "fun" on the protocol or specification level as it has real world consequences. Every piece of paper generated for a protocol or a specification has real world expenses associated with it, worse if someone humourless dolt doesn't understand it and tries to implement it.
Easter eggs in software on the other hand don't affect anyone.
Doesn't remind me about it. Zuck owns the property he wants to build a wall around. He sued to try and identify owners of the parcels of land within his property, but so far there was no attempt to cut anyone off or do anything else untoward against a handful of people.
On the other hand this douchbag thinks he owns a public beach.
Luckily Slashdot is prefixing each story with 'Slashdot:'
What a waste of space. So you get a few tabs across and then all you see is "Slashd" "Slashd" "Slashd" "Slashd" "Slashd" "Slashd" to help differentiate your tabs.
Say what you want, text is worthless for high-density information.
I know, there really is nothing wrong with systemd or pulse audio. Apple's iPhone never had an antenna problem, and Slashdot users will continue to be confounded by the actions of other Slashdot users.
Our experience hasn't reflected the Consumer Reports numbers. It has been far worse.
My SP3: Replaced SP3 due to failure in the fan making a loud noise. Replaced keyboard due to complete failure to type. Replaced keyboard again (SP4 keyboard) due to mouse failing to click. Power brick cable subject to a recall. Replaced pen (SP4 pen) due to failing to pair.
Currently living with infuriating wakeup bug that results from having an SP4 TypeCover on an SP3 which Microsoft know, acknowledge is a driver issue and have failed to fix in 18 months.
My partner's SP4: Replaced SP4 due to bootloop that even a re-image couldn't fix. Replaced pen on day 1 as it was DoA. Replaced pen when it refused to pair. Power brick cable is frayed and starting to become a fire hazard. Arc Touch mouse is failing to click properly (about to be replaced).
So far we've had a 100% failure rate on Surface Pro devices, and a near 100% failure rate on Surface Pro accessories. To MS's credit they were very forthcoming with RMAs and in my opinion out of all the failed devices I've sent back they have been by far the fastest with turnaround on RMA'd equipment.
I do love the device though and hope the quality gets better, but I'm not optimistic.
Microsoft can claim all they want their Surface is doing well, but from real world experiences,
Microsoft's definition of doing well has nothing to do with people's specific use cases. The Surfaces are doing well. They are also not suited to every use case, and frankly probably a tad too bulky to be using as a tablet at a sideline.
They do have problems now. Between my partner and I, with 2 Surface Pros in the house, we are on: 4th Surface Pro, 5th keyboard, and 4th pens, and 3rd Arc mice, a recalled PSU cable, and one which is frayed and likely a fire hazard.
Other than the mice we've had a 100% failure rate of all Surface devices and accessories within 2 years. I'd probably still buy another because I'm extremely happy with it, and also happy with how quickly devices were replaced.
Not for power users that is for sure. I don't like seeing companies replace large well designed laptops with Surfaces. That said... I have one, and I will buy another if this one breaks. If you're not doing power user tasks and you can live with a device that requires ultimately a table or a very well reclined lounge chair to use then it's a great crossover device.
I take mine to work for note taking, I use the pen a lot, but I'd be quite annoyed if they took my work laptop off me.
Slashdot Mirror
Silicon makers have a hard enough time writing drivers for their *own* products. MS thought they could make better drivers for third-party products, products that they didn't design,
Turn it around. MS has a hard enough time writing generic drivers on their own OS. Vendors thought they could make better drivers for Windows, a product they didn't design and don't have source code access to.
The reality is this goes both ways and both sides of the coin have never truly seen what the other side has offered.
Also your assertion that only "Silicon" makers write drivers is just silly. For the drivers we're talking about laptops rarely use the reference driver from the silicon vendor.
That's no excusing MS's garbage though considering Lenovo / HP don't have this problem with their drivers.
Having had a few Surface devices there's something very consistent other than their failure rate: Shithouse MS drivers.
A few things I've experienced:
- Any attempt at changing MAC address of the wireless card causes bluescreen.
- Surface Pro 3 for the first 6 months of my ownership had bad posterising on the display attributed to horrible MS graphics drivers. You could download Intel Iris Pro drivers from their website and force it to be installed over the MS's garbage but that would reset whenever MS pushed out another update. It was whackamole until MS finally fixed it.
- Now the Surface Pro 4 Typecover lists Surface Pro 3 as a compatible device but due to a driver bug in the way it attempts to power up the typecover while folded back, waking the Surface Pro 3 from sleep takes ~15 seconds instead of the instant wake with the Surface in "laptop" orientation, or using a Pro 3 type cover. MS acknowledge the bug in Jan 2016 and promised a fix every month until they stopped promising.
The Surface clones are starting to look mighty interesting now that they are starting to be feature comparable to MS's original.
It's always important to ask, "What evidence would change your mind?"
If evidence was something that convinced everyone there would be no anti-vaxxers. Unfortunately we're living in a world where we see news stories about babies dying and parents none the less thinking they still made the right choice because at least he didn't grow up with teh autism!
It does. Fortunately we have already proven one of them.
Or maybe you failed history class.
There's many things that are living but still completely wrong. Case in point: Anti-vaxxers.
Yep, companies are totally the same as the proven history and wealth of medical knowledge we have gained along with the many scientific studies. If you can't separate the two you're really not much better than the anti-vaxxers.
Monsanto is even now busy suppressing evidence that their roundup product causes cancer.
And that just shows that you rely entirely on prejudice rather than scientific fact (just like the anti-vaxxers). Monsato was accused of ghost writing and preventing research from happening, but to date there's zero evidence of Roundup causing cancer. Suppressing research is not the same as proving the opposite.
For whom? Gnome is no longer *power* user friendly. But Linux (and GNOME included) was frigging terrible for the general user populous in terms of friendliness circa 2000s.
Use the correct words. Call it configurable, call it hacker friendly, call it by what functionality you use, but don't pretend that Linux hasn't gotten more "user friendly" in the general sense of a user being able to sit down and do basic things without tearing their hair out.
This! TFA tried to redefine the word "End Of Life" to mean "Not Longer Available". That's a very dangerous distinction.
Maybe we should rename it:
418 - Software written by millenial as part of an agile team in a startup made entirely of UX designers has operated as expected.
The only stories we run on Amiga are about the release of a new computer. The comments then always boil down to the same thing:
a) My first computer was an Amiga
b) There's places where the original Amiga is still running
c) This company is a shell with nothing to do with the Amiga that made the Amiga great.
d) This product is too expensive and completely irrelevant.
e) This is a shameless Slashvertisement and is about the only Amiga related stories that gets run here anymore.
This post is in line with e.
10 years separation in data points attributed to Uber and Lyft? Has nothing changed in your city in 10 years?
I have the same anecdote you do. It is now far easier to find parking at the local university compared to 10 years ago. There's also several new bus lines, a new bridge making access easier to the southside, far more localised student housing, another university campus on the other side of the city reducing the need for long commutes, significantly more bicycle parking available, and all that ignoring the fact that city demographics change dramatically over 10 years not to mention the generational changes that is the new generation being a) unable to afford cars and b) far more likely to live close to where they need do their daily activities.
Yeah I'm sure some people will catch an Uber, but I'm certain that it won't have even the slightest impact on your carpark.
Vendor seeks user comment.
User says "bite-me"
Vendor releases product.
User whines endlessly about vendor not listening to the community, and processes being undemocratic.
Me? I'm just here for the entertainment. I clicked to the comments looking for someone posting this complaint and was not disappointed.
Pointless anecdote. Extraordinary high failures rates in SSDs point towards problems in your power supply or heating more than anything else. The fact you can't keep them running in industrial applications especially is a sign of this as solid state electronics don't magically degrade outside of the known read/write failure mechanism.
My own anecdote goes the opposite way. We have fun playing frisbie with the left over drive platters from the endless string of failures, and I'm sure every enterprise does as well given that HDD failure is just a given and everyone treats them like a normal part of the business maintenance.
I'll put my name to saying this doesn't just include SSDs, but some 90% of the hardware failures I've seen in industrial systems are due to external problems. 20 year old UPSes, noisy as shit power, overheated power-supplies, earthing designed by the spaghetti monster himself, lack of surge protection, inadequate ventilation, poor dust control, the list just goes on and on. SSDs are sensitive to power issues, that is know and given. Design accordingly and you won't have an issue.
Putting jokes in your software isn't an issue. Putting jokes in a specification or in a protocol on the other hand can have long lasting consequences. Worse still if someone doesn't understand the joke and actually tries to implement it.
This specific case doesn't really matter much as very if any people would actually implement all the error codes and a lot of software cherry picks only the ones that the developers expect. However in general if you put a joke in an specification, someone will read it on the clock, someone will write why they do or don't implement that, someone will approve it, and the end result is billable hours and expenses for others.
Easter eggs in end user software on the other hand... go your hardest, they don't have the same affect on others.
Agreed, and while the 418 code wasn't serious in a general sense (because frankly who actually looks to implement all the codes) it is still dangerous in general sense having "fun" on the protocol or specification level as it has real world consequences. Every piece of paper generated for a protocol or a specification has real world expenses associated with it, worse if someone humourless dolt doesn't understand it and tries to implement it.
Easter eggs in software on the other hand don't affect anyone.
I agree with fun in a software level. Not sure how I feel about it in a specification level or a protocol level.
At the very least, that's a "taking."
A taking from whom? The law isn't new.
Judges don't create law, they interprate law. If you've ever read a law you'll find a lot of them leave ample room for interpretation.
Doesn't remind me about it. Zuck owns the property he wants to build a wall around. He sued to try and identify owners of the parcels of land within his property, but so far there was no attempt to cut anyone off or do anything else untoward against a handful of people.
On the other hand this douchbag thinks he owns a public beach.
Luckily Slashdot is prefixing each story with 'Slashdot:'
What a waste of space. So you get a few tabs across and then all you see is "Slashd" "Slashd" "Slashd" "Slashd" "Slashd" "Slashd" to help differentiate your tabs.
Say what you want, text is worthless for high-density information.
I know, there really is nothing wrong with systemd or pulse audio. Apple's iPhone never had an antenna problem, and Slashdot users will continue to be confounded by the actions of other Slashdot users.
Well at least he's consistent. Applying cherry picked data that are his beliefs and decreeing them as fact.
Our experience hasn't reflected the Consumer Reports numbers. It has been far worse.
My SP3:
Replaced SP3 due to failure in the fan making a loud noise.
Replaced keyboard due to complete failure to type.
Replaced keyboard again (SP4 keyboard) due to mouse failing to click.
Power brick cable subject to a recall.
Replaced pen (SP4 pen) due to failing to pair.
Currently living with infuriating wakeup bug that results from having an SP4 TypeCover on an SP3 which Microsoft know, acknowledge is a driver issue and have failed to fix in 18 months.
My partner's SP4:
Replaced SP4 due to bootloop that even a re-image couldn't fix.
Replaced pen on day 1 as it was DoA.
Replaced pen when it refused to pair.
Power brick cable is frayed and starting to become a fire hazard.
Arc Touch mouse is failing to click properly (about to be replaced).
So far we've had a 100% failure rate on Surface Pro devices, and a near 100% failure rate on Surface Pro accessories. To MS's credit they were very forthcoming with RMAs and in my opinion out of all the failed devices I've sent back they have been by far the fastest with turnaround on RMA'd equipment.
I do love the device though and hope the quality gets better, but I'm not optimistic.
Microsoft can claim all they want their Surface is doing well, but from real world experiences,
Microsoft's definition of doing well has nothing to do with people's specific use cases. The Surfaces are doing well. They are also not suited to every use case, and frankly probably a tad too bulky to be using as a tablet at a sideline.
They do have problems now. Between my partner and I, with 2 Surface Pros in the house, we are on: 4th Surface Pro, 5th keyboard, and 4th pens, and 3rd Arc mice, a recalled PSU cable, and one which is frayed and likely a fire hazard.
Other than the mice we've had a 100% failure rate of all Surface devices and accessories within 2 years. I'd probably still buy another because I'm extremely happy with it, and also happy with how quickly devices were replaced.
Not for power users that is for sure. I don't like seeing companies replace large well designed laptops with Surfaces. That said... I have one, and I will buy another if this one breaks. If you're not doing power user tasks and you can live with a device that requires ultimately a table or a very well reclined lounge chair to use then it's a great crossover device.
I take mine to work for note taking, I use the pen a lot, but I'd be quite annoyed if they took my work laptop off me.