Date: Fri, 27 Oct 1995 10:31:43 +0100 From: Klaus Brunnstein Subject: Mr.Bill Gates: MS software essentially bug-free In an interview for German weekly magazine FOCUS (nr.43, October 23,1995, pages 206-212), Microsoft`s Mr. Bill Gates has made some statements about software quality of MS products. After lengthy inquiries about how PCs should and could be used (including some angry comments on some questions which Mr. Gates evidently did not like), the interviewer comes to storage requirements of MS products; it ends with the following dispute (translated by submitter; at some interesting points, I added the German phrase): Focus: But it is a fact: if you buy a new version of a program to overcome faults of an old one, you unavoidably get more features and need more storage. Gates: We have strong competitors and produce only products which we believe to be able to sell. New versions are not offered to cure faults. I have never heard of a less relevant reason to bring a new version on the market. Focus: There are always bugs in programs. Gates: No. There are no essential bugs ("keine bedeutenden fehler") in our software which a significant number of users might wish to be removed. Focus: Hey? I get always crazy when my Macintosh Word 5.1 hides page numbers under my text. Gates: Maybe you make errors, have you ever thought about that? It often appears that machine addicts ("Maschinenstuermer") cannot use software properly. We install new features because we were asked to. Nobody would buy a new software because of bugs in an old one. Focus: If I call a hotline or a dealer and complain about a problem, I have to hear: `Get the update to version 6`. Everybody has such experiences. This is how the system works. Gates: We pay 500 million $ a year for telephone advice. Less than 1% of calls which we get has to do with software bugs. Most callers wish advice. You are kindly invited to listen to the millions of calls. You must wait for weeks until one complains about a bug. Focus: But where does this feeling of frustration come from which unites PC users? Everybody is confronted every day that programs do not work as they should? Gates: That is talking, following the motto: `yes, I also know about this bug`. I understand this as sociological phenomenon, not as technical.