A challenge for bug exterminators
C|Net | at | by Mike
The principle behind the curve--that 80 percent of the consequences come from 20 percent of the causes--is rooted in a 19th-century observation about the distribution of wealth. But it also illustrates the challenge for the builders of the next generation of Windows and Office, the world's largest-selling software packages.
The Office package, for example, has been tested by more than 3.5 million users; last month alone, more than 700,000 PCs were running the software, generating more than 46 million separate work sessions. At Microsoft, 53,000 employee computers are running test versions.
Vista has also been tested extensively. More than half a million computer users have installed Vista test software, and 450,000 of the systems have sent crash data back to Microsoft.