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
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