InformationWeek

May 19, 1999

Can Microsoft Improve Its Software Reliability?

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Will a certification logo matter to you when you look for Windows 2000 products? Do you think certified applications really will adhere to the specifications? Can Microsoft actually deliver on its promises of reliability, compatibility, and manageability? Is it too late to be just defining a specification?

Discuss it in LangaLetter threads.

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Fred Langa is a senior consulting editor and columnist for Windows Magazine. Fred's free weekly newsletter is available via subscribe@langa.com. You can contact him at fred@langa.com or via his website at http://www.langa.com.

By Fred Langa

Microsoft's new applications specifications aim to improve the reliability, compatibility, and manageability of Windows 2000 software. But will it work?

Last week, Microsoft released the final draft of its new Windows 2000 client application specification. The final comments are being collected, and later this week Microsoft is scheduled to release the final specification.

The intent is ambitious: Any application that meets the Windows 2000 client specification will (in Microsoft's own words):

Provide a robust, self-repairing installation that helps minimize conflicts among shared components (i.e., "DLL Hell") to enable better co-existence of applications.
Facilitate easier software deployment and management for organizations.
Correctly maintain user preferences and computer settings to ensure a good "roaming user" experience, support for multiple users per machine, and regeneration of application settings in machine-replacement scenarios.
Run in a tightly controlled network environment, to enable network administrators to secure and control business desktops.
Support OnNow power management for the best mobile computing experience possible.
Provide a consistent user experience and support accessibility standards to reduce support and training costs.
Provide a smooth transition of the application for users who upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional.

Several weeks earlier, Microsoft also released a similar set of specs for Windows 2000 server applications. It includes most of the above points, plus a few server-specific ones:

Supports a globally available infrastructure for easier management by the user and the administrator.
Provides secure access to resources and security for their interactions.
Ensures Windows management applications present common visualization of management-oriented tasks.

Applications that fully meet the specifications will qualify for the Windows 2000 logo program. You can see all the details at http://msdn.microsoft.com/developer/winlogo/win2000.htm or directly download the client specification at http://msdn.microsoft.com/winlogo/downloads/AppSpec-client.exe or the server spec at http://msdn.microsoft.com/winlogo/downloads/AppSpec-server.exe. Microsoft also is offering various tools and testing services to help developers create compliant applications.

It all sounds great. But in the past, Microsoft logo programs have sometimes amounted to little more than marketing ploys: Some products that carried various logo certifications still had compatibility problems, and others that weren't part of the logo program worked just fine. Few, if any, of Microsoft's past logo programs have really seemed to matter much to people actually buying the product.

What's your take? Will this be different? Will a certification logo matter to you when you look for Windows 2000 products? Do you think certified applications really will adhere to the specifications? Can Microsoft actually deliver on its promises of reliability, compatibility, and manageability? Is it too late to be just defining a specification? Join in!