From: "Geo." 

"John Cuccia"  wrote in message
news:jkel3vklereedbb6alcngk1marntfopse4{at}4ax.com...

> >I would expect major releases to get the testing they get now but I
wouldn't
> >expect a monthly build to get any more testing than the hotfixes do now.
I
> >would however expect the continuous testing to continously fix bugs as
well
> >as security issues in each monthly build.
>
> Then you prefer that the onus of testing the hypothetical monthly
> builds to rest on the customer?  Given the breadth of
> hardware/software configurations out there, I suppose that's the only
> practical way to do it.

All I'm trying to change is the complexity of staying up to date that is
easy to understand for the users and easy to maintain for MS.

It should be obvious to everyone that it's easier to deal with a service
pack than to deal with each fix separately. It should also be obvious to
everyone that a CD with W2Ksp3 on it is easier to deal with than two CD's
one with W2Ksp0 and one with SP3.

My point is instead of releasing separate fixes, release an updated iso of
the whole OS either when a patch becomes available or once a month if
numerous patches are in the works. By not dealing with each as a separate
patch we avoid the issue of undoing a previous patch and at the same time
it's easier to stay current (should help both end users and MS) at the cost
of a bigger download or ordering a CD or signing up for a "keep
current" program where for a cost MS sends you a monthly CD.

> I am all for your idea of a way to roll back hotfixes and patches.  It
> shouldn't be that hard for MS to come up with a way to do so.

Hot fixes already are added to the add/remove programs so the feature is
already there. In the above example you would just be limited to rolling
back a months worth of fixes instead of each one.

> Further, I think it is ludicrous that application patches can update
> my OS.  That only serves to increase the chances of patch-induced
> problems.

Great so if they increase the version number of the OS by .0001 then apps
can require a specific version level before they install. Might make that
problem easier to deal with as well.

Geo.

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