As you probably heard, Microsoft’s October update of Windows 10 was a bit of a disaster.  Sure, it updated your OS, but unfortunately for many users, it also deleted a variety of files. This prompted outrage from the company’s massive user base.

Things would have been bad enough if the calamitous October update had been an isolated mis-step. Unfortunately, the last several of Microsoft’s updates have been plagued with problems, which has caused the company to take a step back and reassess.

There’s good news on a couple of different fronts.  First, Microsoft has just re-released the October update, and this time it updates the OS without deleting your files.  Second, the company has pledged to be more open about their Windows 10 development and testing process, which should help keep the company more accountable and provide a greater degree of transparency.

What we have learned from Microsoft so far is that they track their software using two key metrics: Initial quality and sustained quality.  Initial quality is a measure of the stability and reliability of an update.  A low score here indicates that something was missed in testing. Sustained quality is the reliability and effectiveness of the stream of updates that service each future release.

Obviously then, the last few of Microsoft’s updates have suffered from relatively low initial quality, but the company maintains that overall, the trajectory of sustained quality is still quite good.

They pointed to two additional metrics they use to track overall customer satisfaction with the OS. The biggest of these is the “incident rate,” which is the number of complaints logged with each new release.  This rate has declined steadily over the life of Windows 10 to this point, which supports the company’s contention.  Even so, it’s painfully obvious that something has been going wrong where Microsoft’s testing is concerned.  Here’s hoping the increased transparency will help in that regard.

In any case, the October update is once again available, and this time, it’s safe to use.

 

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