Microsoft to Windows 10 users: Are we doing a good job warning you on update bugs?
Microsoft recently encouraged all its 800 million Windows 10 users to bookmark the Windows 10 update history page. The company now wants to know what users think of its one-stop page, which details all major bugs, blocks, and broken updates.
Windows 10
Just as Microsoft announced that Windows 10 1809 was finally ready for business to widely deploy, the company put out its feelers for user feedback about the dedicated page it's been using to explain why version 1809 hasn't been available.
Windows 10 version 1809 was initially released in early October but was pulled after a week because it was destroying users' files. After resolving several bugs, Microsoft rereleased the update on November 13 but only made it available to 'seekers' who manually install it.
Microsoft promised quality improvements to Windows 10 updates and vowed to communicate more clearly with users and businesses.
Key to that promise is the Windows 10 update history page, which Microsoft recently urged all Windows 10 users to bookmark and check frequently.
SEE: 20 pro tips to make Windows 10 work the way you want (free PDF)
As spotted by Woody Leonard, Microsoft's lead on the Windows Insider program, Dona Sarkar, this week helped spread the word about a survey from Microsoft's Windows Update team who are seeking feedback about the "Windows update experience".
The survey isn't so much about what people experience with updates themselves, but rather the information Microsoft provides on its Windows 10 update history page.
Microsoft has used the page to inform users about a wide variety of issues affecting version 1809, ranging from buggy Intel drivers to iCloud problems, compatibility problems affecting Cisco security products and F5's VPN, as well as the recent DNS outage that prevented Windows users in the US and UK from connecting to Windows Update to receive updates and patches.
"We're looking to learn more about how you use Windows update history pages," Microsoft says in the new 26-question survey.
The company wants to know whether respondents are consumers or IT professionals and how often they update Windows devices.
One question attempts to gauge how well IT pros and consumers understand Microsoft's soul-sapping Windows servicing model and terminology, which demand each group understands the difference between its twice-a-year feature updates, quality updates, Patch Tuesday security updates, non-security updates, optional updates, automatic updates, cumulative updates, monthly rollup updates, preview quality updates, and so on.
SEE: A winning strategy for cybersecurity (ZDNet special report) | Download the report as a PDF (TechRepublic)
And the company wants to know how easy or difficult it is for users and admins to find its update history pages and knowledge base (KB) articles, as well as if the update history page adequately answers all their questions.
Microsoft wants to know how helpful its 'current status' section of the update history page is for users. That's the section Microsoft uses to explain why some systems are being prevented from receiving the latest Windows 10 feature update.
It also wants to know what is the most helpful and least helpful information it provides in monthly security and non-security updates, as well as the cumulative updates, including its list of improvements and fixes, known issues, details on how to get the update, build number, and KB number.
The survey should be relevant to a lot of people across the world. According to Microsoft, the Windows 10 version 1809 update history page alone has over one million page views since it was first published in October.
#WindowsInsiders: I know we may be kind of biased, but the Windows Update team would love your input on your Windows update experience. We'd really appreciate if you took 2 mins to let us know! https://t.co/S2rVFdBUUp
— D:\ona\Sarkar (@donasarkar) March 27, 2019
Microsoft's Dona Sarkar this week called for feedback from Windows Insiders. Image: Microsoft/Twitter
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