Hey ISV! Give me high quality code in Vista!

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No software is perfect.  There are always bugs.  Given that good software is supposed to free of these problems is it really ever possible to produce good software?  Maybe not, but there is no excuse not to strive for perfection.  One of the features that was introduced in Win XP (I think it was SP2) was the Windows Error Reporting which allowed the user to report back to Microsoft about hiccups caused by problems with software.

These reports are fed back to the developers of the software via the Windows Quality Online Services (WinQual) website.  WinQual is a free service provided to people who produce software for Windows to receive reports triggered by their software in user's computers.  This is a great way for them to receive lots of feedback from users all over the world on the quality of their products and will allow them to constantly improve their software.  This will make their customers happy and happy customers = future purchases = more money.  For more information about this service and how to get started check this link out.

Now, with Windows Vista, we have created the next generation of this feedback mechanism called the Windows Feedback Platform. Here's a typical scenario where the WFP would be used:

1. User is happily using your application.
2. The application unexpectedly crashes, hangs or memory leaks - Vista detects this automatically.
3. Relevant crash info is sent to WinQual.
4. You analyse the crash information
5. You fix the problem and supply details to winqual
6. The user is notified of the fix via the Problem Center in Windows Vista
7. They download the fix and are happy because you are so responsive to the problems they are having

The Problem Center in Vista

The new WFP also provides a whole host of new APIs that the developers can access for adding files & memory blocks etc to reports.  They can also save recovery data just before restarting the application so that the user experiences minimal disruption during the application crash. 

Microsoft is the biggest user of WFP because it helps us develop better products.  At the moment there are about 2000 ISVs who are also taking advantage of the plaftorm.  If you're an ISV and not using it - shame on you - you should be so register now!