A lesson learned about being an Insider from Fort McMurray, Alberta

[Grant Russell]

Hey guys,

I have been an insider on the fast rings for a long time now. Started with my 1020 and the painful experience of W10M on that device to the 950XL that I'm carrying today. This last build has been a particularly troubling build, with significant stability issues and the bug that loses text messages is crippling. I can normally deal with these issues, I even own 2 companies and don't mind the bugs and quirks that normally pop up.

But this week I have been caught wishing that I was not an Insider. The two companies I own are in Fort McMurray, Alberta, where the forest fires have been ravaging our community. I managed to get out well before the fire was anywhere near the size it is now but I have many staff members and friends who have now lost their homes and are uncertain about where they will be even in a month.

The freezing issues around calls, missing texts, poor to non-responsive camera, and random restarts is breaking me. For a while, I did not have access to a computer to initiate any kind of rollback. I was hoping on Tuesday that we would see a new build that I could pull down from WIFI. No such luck. Its not worth going into the countless bug traps I have fallen into while trying to stay in touch with everyone, those are well documented.

Now I am in Ontario, and I plan on waiting until 3AM to begin the process of getting out of the insider ring to something more stable. I need to wait that long because I have to stay in touch with my employees and friends who are still in Alberta (different time zone).

This experience has highlighted to me, the real risks of being a fast ring Insider for a device you so heavily rely upon. SN correctly identified "Mobile First". I think 'Mobile First' represents the current state of modern communications. However, I do question Microsoft's commitment to that ideal for their own platform(s). I look forward to the day when a fast ring Insider is beta testing new features or ideas for a phone... not the basic fundamentals.

Again, that love/hate relationship I'm sure we all have with our Insider builds makes for an exciting place to be. The forefront of what Microsoft envisions as a mobile platform is fun to be a part of. But I would encourage everyone to re-evaluate their situation, and how a fast ring WILL let you down in emergency situations. You do quickly miss the stability of production builds, much less other platforms and devices.

For the time being, I will revert to production. I hope to reconsider the fast ring in the months to come, but this is a cautionary example of when you find yourself needing something reliable and you just don't have it. It becomes a Chaos Multiplier.

Grant Russell

 

[Pete]

For such a mission critical role in communications, you have to stay in the production ring. If you want to use the fast ring, you'll need to use a secondary device.

This goes for anything - if effective communications are key for your life or business, then don't use pre-production evaluation software.

 

[theefman]

Too much drama, they are called preview builds for a reason, no one should run preview software in mission critical situations.

 

[Grant Russell]

For such a mission critical role in communications, you have to stay in the production ring. If you want to use the fast ring, you'll need to use a secondary device.

This goes for anything - if effective communications are key for your life or business, then don't use pre-production evaluation software.

Yup, that was basically my long winded admission...

 

[mtf1380]

Hey guys,

I have been an insider on the fast rings for a long time now. Started with my 1020 and the painful experience of W10M on that device to the 950XL that I'm carrying today. This last build has been a particularly troubling build, with significant stability issues and the bug that loses text messages is crippling. I can normally deal with these issues, I even own 2 companies and don't mind the bugs and quirks that normally pop up.

But this week I have been caught wishing that I was not an Insider. The two companies I own are in Fort McMurray, Alberta, where the forest fires have been ravaging our community. I managed to get out well before the fire was anywhere near the size it is now but I have many staff members and friends who have now lost their homes and are uncertain about where they will be even in a month.

The freezing issues around calls, missing texts, poor to non-responsive camera, and random restarts is breaking me. For a while, I did not have access to a computer to initiate any kind of rollback. I was hoping on Tuesday that we would see a new build that I could pull down from WIFI. No such luck. Its not worth going into the countless bug traps I have fallen into while trying to stay in touch with everyone, those are well documented.

Now I am in Ontario, and I plan on waiting until 3AM to begin the process of getting out of the insider ring to something more stable. I need to wait that long because I have to stay in touch with my employees and friends who are still in Alberta (different time zone).

This experience has highlighted to me, the real risks of being a fast ring Insider for a device you so heavily rely upon. SN correctly identified "Mobile First". I think 'Mobile First' represents the current state of modern communications. However, I do question Microsoft's commitment to that ideal for their own platform(s). I look forward to the day when a fast ring Insider is beta testing new features or ideas for a phone... not the basic fundamentals.

Again, that love/hate relationship I'm sure we all have with our Insider builds makes for an exciting place to be. The forefront of what Microsoft envisions as a mobile platform is fun to be a part of. But I would encourage everyone to re-evaluate their situation, and how a fast ring WILL let you down in emergency situations. You do quickly miss the stability of production builds, much less other platforms and devices.

For the time being, I will revert to production. I hope to reconsider the fast ring in the months to come, but this is a cautionary example of when you find yourself needing something reliable and you just don't have it. It becomes a Chaos Multiplier.

Grant Russell

Sorry to hear of your troubles; hope you, and all in Alberta, experience a little good luck in the days, and months ahead.

 

[ElronTheElder]

Hey guys,

I have been an insider on the fast rings for a long time now. Started with my 1020 and the painful experience of W10M on that device to the 950XL that I'm carrying today. This last build has been a particularly troubling build, with significant stability issues and the bug that loses text messages is crippling. I can normally deal with these issues, I even own 2 companies and don't mind the bugs and quirks that normally pop up.

But this week I have been caught wishing that I was not an Insider. The two companies I own are in Fort McMurray, Alberta, where the forest fires have been ravaging our community. I managed to get out well before the fire was anywhere near the size it is now but I have many staff members and friends who have now lost their homes and are uncertain about where they will be even in a month.

The freezing issues around calls, missing texts, poor to non-responsive camera, and random restarts is breaking me. For a while, I did not have access to a computer to initiate any kind of rollback. I was hoping on Tuesday that we would see a new build that I could pull down from WIFI. No such luck. Its not worth going into the countless bug traps I have fallen into while trying to stay in touch with everyone, those are well documented.

Now I am in Ontario, and I plan on waiting until 3AM to begin the process of getting out of the insider ring to something more stable. I need to wait that long because I have to stay in touch with my employees and friends who are still in Alberta (different time zone).

This experience has highlighted to me, the real risks of being a fast ring Insider for a device you so heavily rely upon. SN correctly identified "Mobile First". I think 'Mobile First' represents the current state of modern communications. However, I do question Microsoft's commitment to that ideal for their own platform(s). I look forward to the day when a fast ring Insider is beta testing new features or ideas for a phone... not the basic fundamentals.

Again, that love/hate relationship I'm sure we all have with our Insider builds makes for an exciting place to be. The forefront of what Microsoft envisions as a mobile platform is fun to be a part of. But I would encourage everyone to re-evaluate their situation, and how a fast ring WILL let you down in emergency situations. You do quickly miss the stability of production builds, much less other platforms and devices.

For the time being, I will revert to production. I hope to reconsider the fast ring in the months to come, but this is a cautionary example of when you find yourself needing something reliable and you just don't have it. It becomes a Chaos Multiplier.

Grant Russell

Wish you well.
Preview software is just that. ....One hopes it runs well and still be interesting.
Running beta on a daily driver is a toss of the die.
You rolled snake-eyes.
Good Luck.

 

[speccy]

I wish you well and hope that you/your city recovers - it was terribly upsetting seeing some of the videos people have made of themselves fleeing the fires and leaving their homes possibly never to return over the last couple of days. I hope that over time the city will be rebuilt and be even greater than before.

 

[signal-2-noise]

Hey guys,
...

Now I am in Ontario, and I plan on waiting until 3AM to begin the process of getting out of the insider ring to something more stable. I need to wait that long because I have to stay in touch with my employees and friends who are still in Alberta (different time zone).


Grant Russell

Well at least you're safe & sound in Ontario. I'm sure there are others helping your employees & friends & rest of the Fort McMurray & Anzac areas.

 

[RumoredNow]

Best of Luck to you, your family and all your friends and coworkers, Grant.

 

[Krystianpants]

It's that tantalizing allure of being on the latest and greatest and having access to the coolest features. But it captures you in and as a result you forget about how it can affect you. Then that day comes and you finally realize what you have done. Honestly, it's not your fault. This is just something that happens and we forget about how important our communication devices can be in these scenarios. No one expects these things to happen though. It's really random and no one thinks it will happen to them. So don't beat yourself up for not expecting the unexpected.

It sucks what everyone there is going through. I hope that the government helps rebuild and restore peoples' lives to normal. I also hope that other countries come to our aid as well. Most of the time we are just stuck with our heads in our phones or ignoring the rest of the world. But these types of things really show that people do care. I have read some stories about how Syrian refugees we took into Canada are getting together to help. It's good to know that people can always come together and assist in times of crisis.

You can still enjoy the insider builds, but I would just get a cheaper phone to play with and keep your main day to day phone on the most stable build available.

I hope all goes well for you and your friends/family and anyone affected by the tragedy.

 

[Ryujingt3]

Sorry to hear about your situation. I hope you and your employees are safe. As said, you really should be on the production ring due to situations like this.

Even if a new build was released to fast ring there is no guarantee that whilst some things may be fixed other mission critical features may now have issues.

Please take care.