Poll How reliable is your SP3?

[GreyFox7]

Overall the results of this poll are not surprising although id expect it to be somewhat worse than the population as a whole due to the nature of Internet forums.

I think (hope and pray) MS will learn something from this process and perhaps it will even result in changes to their project management style and overall product quality across the board. From what I have seen so far all the problems encountered could have been easily avoided and should have been foreseen and prevented. There are problems on the horizon... I hope they start looking up and out. What will it be like to do a Refresh next June or sometime in 2016? Think MS, think!

 

[Moonsurface]

It seems to me that MS put a lot of thought and design time into this device, and the hardware in the main seems to be a triumph of design, but given the shedloads of work that must have gone into it in the short time since the SP2 release, it probably means some things were rushed to meet deadlines and the software has not caught up. Hopefully now MS has pretty much sorted the form factor and the hardware design, hopefully future releases won't require so much hardware development time and will enable greater time for software and bug fixing.

My husband works as a product developer developing very expensive and high-tech equipment for multimillion pound industries and his project was put under a huge amount of time and resource pressure, with small numbers in his software and hardware team trying to make it work and major software bugs that were very difficult to pin down as they involved both hardware and software glitches, what they ended up with as they struggled to release the device in time to meet their deadlines was an instrument that has specifications and ease of use far in excess of anything else in the market, generally worked well but was released with a fairly major flaws as they were not given enough time/resources to sort it out before the device launched. Thankfully they had sorted the hardware problems just in time and were left with software glitches, and like MS they are relying on software updates to sort out remaining problems on the device after release... embarrassing and not ideal but financial deadlines dictated that the device had to be launched.

 

[GreyFox7]

The first statement in the poll is virtually identical to the last statement.

I tell my customers that if they never have ANY problems with their computer it may have been that they forgot to turn it on.

Using identical computers I have a few customers always getting themselves into some type of trouble, others almost never. Those that do have problems usually is a result of a PEBKAC. (if you don't know, look it up).

IMO perfection is a higher standard than simply not having a problem but it could be interpretation.
I agree though that some are predisposed to making all the right or wrong choices. Some, even when they know better, do the wrong thing anyway just in case.

 

[jnjroach]

I'm sorry, but this is somewhat silly, its a computer and every computer has issues at some time, Apple iOS and OSX, Android, Symbian, Tenizen, Linux, UNIX, Windows and Windows Phone.

The SP3 has been consistent and I'm able to consistently perform what I need it to do, but I've had drivers crash and I know that I have 6 months ahead of frequent issues as I will load the Windows Threshold Previews on it as soon as it is available....

 

[dniezby]

No problems with mine either. I did have an issue where the Home button was acting like it was pressed causing screen caps when I wanted to turn the volume down and narrator when I tried to turn it up. Solved the problem with the INCREDIBLY AWESOME refresh feature.
Now it 5 by 5.

 

[Geek.Verve]

I wonder why some devices are just so fraught with problems and others seem to be so much better I haven't tweaked mine at all, I've installed all the updates as they've come in, I haven't added any special drivers etc or changed any major settings. I've just installed my programs as I've wanted (lightroom, PS etc) and it's been fine so far. Is it hardware differences, differences in configuration etc?? If someone else bought the same model as I have, installed the same programs and used it in the same way I'd expect it to act the same but It seems like it may not...

I have direct contact with nearly a hundred of the thousands of computers deployed at the company where I work. Identical machines (same exact hardware and same software image) will often behave differently. It's not that frequent, but the occasional workstation (HP business class) will just prove to be a lemon, and will either need to have some component replaced or returned whole to our distributor.

 

[Lobo]

I'm sorry, but this is somewhat silly, its a computer and every computer has issues at some time

While this is certainly true, the problems that leave me puzzled the most are clearly on the Windows side. One thing in my life I could always count on throughout the years.

The funny thing is, that I'm not one of those who constantly fix what ain't broke, I load my device with the software I need and use it. End of story.

I'll spare you last decades since Win 3.1, but just a few quirks since I got my SP3 (few weeks ago):

• From one point on, restarts started to take 5 mins until I factory restored.
• One time, while working on something else for a few mins, I turn around, look at the screen. Friggin' thing shuts down and reboots. For no reason whatsoever, only Word running.
• Connected to a WiFi hotspot. Disconnected. Could not get back in for the life of me.
• I take the keyboard off, thing shuts down. Yep. Just like that.
• SP3 freely decides wether to turn on upon lifting the keyboard during connected standby
• BT connection to pen gets lost. Reconnect, works.

While these are all mostly minor things, they just keep happening on my Windows machines. Problems, that aren't easily identified and hence really bug me. On other systems, I usually change things or run updates and quirks show up, so there's some chance to find out what the hoot happened.

 

[jnjroach]

While this is certainly true, the problems that leave me puzzled the most are clearly on the Windows side. One thing in my life I could always count on throughout the years.

The funny thing is, that I'm not one of those who constantly fix what ain't broke, I load my device with the software I need and use it. End of story.

I'll spare you last decades since Win 3.1, but just a few quirks since I got my SP3 (few weeks ago):

• From one point on, restarts started to take 5 mins until I factory restored.
• One time, while working on something else for a few mins, I turn around, look at the screen. Friggin' thing shuts down and reboots. For no reason whatsoever, only Word running.
• Connected to a WiFi hotspot. Disconnected. Could not get back in for the life of me.
• I take the keyboard off, thing shuts down. Yep. Just like that.
• SP3 freely decides wether to turn on upon lifting the keyboard during connected standby
• BT connection to pen gets lost. Reconnect, works.

While these are all mostly minor things, they just keep happening on my Windows machines. Problems, that aren't easily identified and hence really bug me. On other systems, I usually change things or run updates and quirks show up, so there's some chance to find out what the hoot happened.

If you are constantly getting random reboots, what are you using for Anti-Virus? What applications have you installed? Do you have legacy versions of said software installed? What router are you using?

I've used Windows Machines since Windows 3.0 as well and I've used Linux and Macs and keenly aware of quirks and issues....

 

[Lobo]

@jnjroach I'm currently running Norton 360, since I had a license for it. Apps are Office 2013, Adobe CC and several lesser knowns (cash register software, terminal emulator, etc.).

But the thing is, those quirks also happen with Defender only or just a part of my software installed. And all over my machines. It's not only reboots, but always something else that won't work like it did the day before. Sometimes, they will run trouble-free for weeks. There's just no way to tell and that's a behavior I can attribute to all of the seven Windows machines that currently surround me.

Some store-bought, some self-built with parts carefully selected, never made a difference in the long run. And again, these are work PCs that don't ever see funny downloads, games or anything else.

 

[jnjroach]

I've seen others with rebooting issues with Norton A/V installed on the SP3 (as well as ATOM based Tablets), it seems to struggle with Connected Standby.

What you describe from a software perspective is known as Code Rot, LOB Applications are infamous for Code Rot and instabilities (POS, Terminal Emulators, SCADA, etc.). I spend much of time working with ISVs on modernizing their wares.

The fact that 31 or the 34 responders of the poll shows a high level of reliability in the platform.

 

[Lobo]

@jnjroach I'm grateful you're trying to help me out here. All of this is true, but maybe it's just my type of luck. I've been having issues ever since juggling around XMS and EMS in order to get DOS games to run properly, way before even touching those LOB apps. It's just either one problem or another on the platform. Running the first Mac was the first time I could work with my computer instead of working on it.

On a side note, my neighbor next door is my age, he has no clue whatsoever, downloads whatever he gets his hands on, installs crap from god-knows-where and is a happy camper. No issues. LOL.

Gotta be personal after all I guess.

But since I don't have much of a platform choice in my line of work – is there another virus scanner you would recommend on the SP3 instead of Norton? Kaspersky maybe?

N.B. Working on a mile-long document in Word 2013, just got the whole outline messed up all of a sudden. Note to self: Must stock up on Prozac.

 

[jnjroach]

I use Defender on my personal machines, and System Center Endpoint Protection on my professional machines....

The biggest thing to look for in any A/V Solution is that it is Connected Standby compatible.