Back to Basics; capiche?

This ZD|Net article's right on. Navigating the frequent and massive Windows 10 Updates is simply "burdensome". And the new features aren't that compelling. Time to re-think the strategy, MSFT!

Another interesting insight from the article, "it's widely known that Microsoft let go a bunch of its Windows testers back in 2014, substituting flighting and new unit testing procedures in their stead. I don't think Microsoft will reverse this course and bring back testing as a separate discipline. But they could improve their testing procedures and supporting infrastructure as part of a return to a focus on fundamentals."

I've worked at large companies that effectively eliminated QA engineers on behalf of "Agile Stretch". It generally doesn't work well! Developers have a different mindset and focus than Testers, and the end quality often reflects that. You really don't want to go there! 😮

Windows 10 Pro SP 1511 upgrade warning

Heads up! If you have the built-in Administrator account enabled, make sure you add a standard account on the PC to the Administrators group before upgrading to Windows Service Pack 1511 (Build 10586.318). The SP doesn't respect the existing Administrator account status, and resets it to the default of "disabled", potentially locking you out of Administrative access to the PC! However, if you have another account added to the Administrators group beforehand, you can correct this after the fact. But if not, you are up the proverbial creek! This only applies to Windows 10 Professional Edition, not the Home Edition, which has no built-in Administrator account anyway.

Note: I've heard it said that it may be possible to boot into Safe Mode and logon as Administrator that way, regardless of whether the account's disabled or not, but I haven't personally tried it out to confirm.

Upgrading to Windows 10? View this first!

If you'll be doing an on-line upgrade to Windows 10, make sure you view this video produced by the Mozilla team with tips on how to configure Win 10 to protect your privacy, reduce unnecessary use of system resources, and to specify which default apps and services you prefer.