InformationWeek

The Best Beta Buff

By Joseph C. Panettieri
Issue date: Oct. 9, 1995

If you've received an early copy of Microsoft Windows 95 and are satisfied with its performance, thank Joe Worrall, one of Microsoft's most prized beta buffs.

Worrall, owner of Lakewood Communications, a Palm Coast, Fla., PC systems integrator, has earned several awards from Microsoft for reporting the most bugs--a whopping 186--while testing Windows 95. He received his most recent award at a Spring Comdex party hosted by Microsoft. "I was at the party with a face full of roast beef--and suddenly my name got called out for an award," sa ys Worrall.

Worrall's firm builds custom, high-end PCs for local governments and other vertical industries, so getting involved with the Windows 95 beta and finding bugs was a natural next step for him. "With all the different PC configurations I test," he says, "I was bound to find bugs." Indeed, at one point Worrall couldn't get Windows 95 to launch Microsoft Word. That's a problem that Microsoft has since corrected.

As for any bugs that might remain in Windows 95, don't blame Worrall. It's not his fault, and he's got the awards to prove it.

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