Microsoft has come out in defense of the much-anticipated Windows 7 operating system after a number of blogs and other sources flaunted a discovered bug as a potential “show-stopper”. Some had reported that a bug with the operating system’s CHKDSK utility could delay the planned rollout, which is being watched closely as hopes are high of Windows 7 providing a much needed jab in the arm for the PC industry.
Screenshots of the Windows Task Manager depicting the CHKDSK process eating up several gigabytes of memory (apparently leading to a BSOD in cases) have circulated around the blogosphere, but Microsoft is denying that the bug is in the Windows software. Instead, Microsoft is pointing at a chipset controller issue as the culprit and advising customers to update their chipset drivers to the latest versions providing by the motherboard manufacturer.
Microsoft’s Windows division President Steven Sinofsky said that the company has not reproduced the crash or experienced any crashes with CHKDSK in any measurable number. “While we appreciate the drama of ‘critical bug’ and then the pickup of ’showstopper’ that I’ve seen, we might take a step back and realize that this might not have that defcon level,” he said.
He continued: “Bugs that are so severe as to require immediate patches and attention would have to have no workarounds and would generally be such that a large set of people would run across them in the normal course of using their PC.” Sinofsky went on to say that this is not a big issue but that Microsoft will continue to pursue and investigate any issues with Windows 7 if/as they arise.
Result for: bugs
Following recent blockbuster leaks such as that of Resident Evil 5, Electronic Arts’ Sims 3 game has been leaked to P2P, a full 15 days before its official release date.
The ISO file is 4.94 GB large and the game has had its Securom DRM cracked. The Sims 3 was set to be EA’s flagship game for 2009 but may have some sales hindered by piracy. This is not always true however as despite being leaked, Resident Evil 5 still set sales record for the series.
The game has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times already and is being called the “real deal” with little to no bugs or crashes.
EA has had a bad year so far in terms of piracy and leaks, especially with the debacle that came with the release of the hit game Spore which eventually led to a class action suit against the developer.
Result for: bugs
Microsoft has confirmed that a new updates for users of the Windows 7 beta is coming next week while also adding that a Release Candidate (RC) for the upcoming Service Pack 2 of Windows Vista is being sent out to a few testers.
Windows 7 manager Brandon LeBlanc noted that on February 24th, five test updates would be released which “will allow us to test and verify our ability to deliver and mange the updating of Windows 7”.
LeBlanc did add however that the new updates would not fix any bugs but instead would simply “replace system files with the same version of the file currently on the system”.
The updates will need to be added manually through Windows Updates.
Vista SP2 RC, build 6002.16670.090130, was recently released to Microsoft Connect testers and should soon find its way to a larger range of beta testers.
When the SP2 eventually hits, it will encompass all previous updates and patches for the OS and will include 691 hotfixes, adds the source.
