A beta version of a Windows Live Service called FolderShare is intended to allow customers to synchronize files across multiple machines. But instead of sharing files, a bug deletes files that contain certain characters, including trademark signs, accents and tildas, reports BetaNews . Microsoft has posted a large public apology and issued instructions that files may be recoverable via the Trash folder. (See picture below.)
The problem occurred over a three day period from December 3 to 6, Microsoft said. The company has promised that it has fixed the issue. But the incident raises some questions. What is the purpose of a “public beta” and who should be using such software? Anyone in the IT world knows that the label “beta” should serve as a warning that the code isn’t ready for prime time. Still, do software developers have any responsibility to not release code (beta or otherwise) to the general public until they know that it functions as advertised? Or is the public beta an excellent way to debug?
Microsoft is between a rock and hard place on this issue. If it keeps young projects under wraps until it is sure they are ready (really, really ready) for public use, the Microsoft hawks complain that the company is not innovating fast enough. If it throws its code out into the open and asks the public to do quality control, people lose confidence in the software and the pundits jump all over Microsoft for the bugs that are found.
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