Windows 10 stability is going downhill, and not even Surfaces are spared

Except the OS is not "regular" software. An app interacts primarily, often exclusively, with the OS, but the OS interacts with the hardware at a deeper level. Plus VM images tend to be vanilla and all on a given host use the same hypervisor drivers and behave generally the same which is often a benefit but not when testing on a variety of configs (hardware AND software) is necessary. But what would a former Windows QA engineer at MS know about it?

Solution: From now on, all PCs run the same VMs used for QA, with Windows on top. Boom. Problem solved. Of course, the host OS will need to be Windows, so we'll run the host OS in its own VM. Continue recursively until all issues are gone (or computer can no longer boot)

Actually it is drivers interacting with the hardware. So testing on real hardware brings no real advantage other than testing drivers. And many of MS's bugs come by driver issues. Even if they are Surface built, they still use 3rd party hardware components that require 3rd -party drivers to function properly.

Idunno, these things aren't new. Going Surface was always a gamble with QA. (Remember when Surface Pro 5 users complained about a screen flaw causing systematic backlight bleed patterns, and Daniel Rubino and Paul Thurrott and others mocked us for complaining about it? The problem was fixed in subsequent batches BTW - I should know, I had three warranty replacements.) And I see "Release Preview" twice in this article ... And Night Light has always been broken for me. Nothing new at all. Embarrassing for MS, but also not a big deal.

This. We don't recommend Surfaces for businesses because of how many issues they have. Nothing new there. And I LOL'd too. "CRASHING?? ON A RELEASE PREVIEW!?!? WHAAAAA" Seriously, it's literally not a stable release.

""CRASHING?? ON A RELEASE PREVIEW!?!? WHAAAAA" "

You don't even understand Release Preview. It's supposed to have passed by all the internal and external validation and stability checks so that there is no risk. Release Preview is the retail OS build. It is a stable release. You simply get earlier access to new apps, cumulative updates, and sometimes firmware around ~ 2 week before they hit all retail. Everything in RP goes out to all Windows PCs within weeks. It's finalized software. There should be no show stopping bugs, that's what slow is supposed to be about (plus MS self-host).

"And I see "Release Preview" twice in this article ...

Release Preview is the retail build of the OS. Are you even sure you know what I am talking about, or how the rings work? You get early updates for inbox apps like Mail and Skype, which don't affect system stability. You also get the same cumulative updates that the general public gets a week or two in advance. These are not "test" builds like Slow and Fast.

I will tell you that I've been, for years, one of the biggest proponents of Microsoft in the various places I've worked in IT. And, while I have never, personally, experienced ANY of the issues that updates have caused over the past few years, it obviously is a big issue. This is completely inexcusable. If Microsoft were some small start up company, yeah, maybe. But, this is a company that eclipsed the trillion dollar value, last year, so there is no excuse. How is this allowed to happen, especially when you have those Insider programs that give you good data for field testing this? Microsoft needs to get this fixed NOW. They certainly have more than enough resources to do so. And, I get that Microsoft is not a consumer company, but their customer service process need serious work, too. What the hell are they spending their money on if they can't even get BASIC stuff like this right?
Small issues might still occur in those obscurely configured specialty homebrew machines, but there is ZERO excuses ANY of this should be happening on ANY Surface device. There are only a very small handful of hardware variants that need to be accounted for and its all in their control. Yet, even some Surfaces are experiencing issues. Get it together, now. You cannot afford to be complacent just because there aren't currently any viable alternatives, except in the low-end, consumer level space.

On a related note their services are not being tested well either. Just this morning I decided to give Skype "meet now" a try. Our experience: * Started a "meet now" on my PC version of Skype. So far so good. * Sent my wife a link to her iPad via email. So far so good. * Just like Zoom, the link in her email took her to a website asking her to download Skype, only... by default the big button that most people would click on took her to the iPhone version of the app. * After fiddling with that, and giving up, she brought me her iPad and asked me what was going on, and I saw it was trying to install the iPhone version, and that there was indeed a small tablet icon on the download page, which took her to the correct download of Skype for iPadOS. * I downloaded that for her while she was standing there. * Skype proceeds to force her to sign up for a Microsoft account, even though I've heard that is not the case with "meet now". Okay now she has a Microsoft account. * When Skype opens there is nothing saying she has a "meet now" invite. * She goes back to the email, clicks the link again. The page says "if you already have Skype click 'Launch' button". That must be the answer, right? She clicks the launch button and nada! * She shows me her tablet again. I assume I need to reboot the iPad. But get angry and decide not too. * I proceeded to give up on Skype at that point, uninstall it from her iPad and am resolved to keep using Zoom with family and friends even though the pro version costs me $14.99 a month. I'd rather pay that, even though Skype says you can have up to 50 participants for free, than walk all my friends and family through this horrendous process. And hence, the #1 problem with Microsoft products and services... you need a bloody IT professional in your house to use them! And even then (because btw I am one) it's a royal pain in the rear. No wonder Zoom is ruling Covid 19. Installing Zoom on everyone's devices was crazy, intuitively, mindlessly, easy.

Try Google Meet. They have a free version for now through September. It seems to be easy and straight forward. You can also trick Microsoft Teems to act as a consumer/individual version without it taking you to Skype. I found this out from the Verge article below. https://www.theverge.com/21285118/meeting-microsoft-teams-schedule-video... I've tried this and Google Meet as alternative to Zoom but ultimately ended up going back to the free Zoom because it's so easy to use particularly for less technical people. Honestly due COVID-19 with remote working and remote schooling; it seems that Zoom has become the go to for most people.

Yeah Zoom is very big now. Not sure if we should be happy with that considering they sell data to Facebook and also parts of governments and much of the education sector uses Zoom. So undoubtedly some sensitive public information will be leaked/sold this way.

Skype has been an unmitigated disaster for years. And also why the hell does MS include Skype for Business and Teams in enterprise Office 365? They serve the same purpose, although Teams
is a million times better. The entire Skype team should’ve been **** canned yesterday.

We use Teams for free and setting up an account was easy peasy. It works very well and it contrary to Zoom is more privacy friendly (I mean they still track you but its not like they sell it to Facebook etc. like Zoom does).

What saddens me immensely is the lack of attention to detail. Msft made the new Edge, yet it is utterly incompatible with touch input: touch text selection UI/UX is completely different to the rest of the OS; touch text selection is not working properly on random and frequent occasions; using touch keyboard is a nightmare in new Edge. Groove app, while made to have artist pictures, is abandoned, resulting in most artist being gray circles with no manual way to correct it. These and other small issues indicate a lack of commitment to delivering a user friendly experience.

Actually, I do still get pictures for most artists.

Me too, but some are delayed on generating images. One thing is fact is that the database isn't that as wide as let's say Spotify. So lesser known artist will likely not have artist art at all.

Daniel Rubino is addressing also another important point: perception. MSFT looks "old and slow" compared to Apple, at least concerning OS. I think this is big problem. If Apple delivers what they showed, PC and Windows will look like old stuff, just good for business, I do not how long, and for gaming.

No one that seriously uses business applications will ever go to Apple. Its not worth the cost.
later
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I would agree with this. Apple isn't designed for enterprise; many of my clients' experience shows this as well. So even though Apple is pretty and about to become "hip" again, that's not a problem to Microsoft.

About to become hip again - are you still in 1997?

Yeah people need to tone it down about apple and arm. It is not the panacea they think. Apple just doesn't have the market share in PCs

They probably think it will make MacBook laptops cheaper or better bang for buck (personally I think Apple will just get higher margins on their laptops, kind of how their iPhones also got more expensive).

And then ChromeOS in a few years

This is actually what worries me a bit. It will be a big blow to privacy (yes more than W10 considering Google's business centers around ads/profiling) and besides some extra consistency will not have much benefit in the long run (probably even more monopolies for Google to abuse).

I'm not sure if it's getting worse... but it is certainly not getting better. Every release has something widespread enough to be news worthy. And as someone that has been using Windows 10 since day one, gotta admit, it's getting a little old. I upgraded my Go 2 to 2004 using the ISO (because even Surface owners have to wait in line with Windows Update). Now I have a bug where the icon for deleted files reappear after changing the rotation. I'm wondering if I should downgrade or - as is often the case - wait for the next update and hope for the best. Windows 10 is a month away from being five years old but it feels like forever ago. Windows 10 keeps changing and yet continues to feel stale. After watching Apple's developer conference, the frustration is even worse than before. Big Sur is going to look different. It's going to feel different. Another year of macOS getting a fresh coat of paint. Meanwhile, Windows 10 has nothing in the pipeline for this year except fixing more bugs fixes and creating new ones. But don't worry because next year, Microsoft plans to make their woefully unused, outdated, unwanted, easily forgotten, live tiles "prettier." It makes me wonder why fans should have any faith in 10X. Maybe it's just me, but lately my perception of Microsoft is a company that likes to come strong out the gate and then rest. Out of the box apps haven't seen significant update in years. I often find the Control Panel faster to use than the Settings menu. And let's not get started on the times when you need to change something in Settings and it pops open the Control Panel anyway. Dark Mode is janky on literally every device I've used it own, from a Lenovo Yoga, to their top of the line Legion, Surface Go 1-2 and even a Surface Pro. Every time I open a folder, the background is briefly white and then turns black. Years later and it's still so annoying. Running through the inconsistent UI is an article all unto itself. So my fear with 10X is that it's going to be awesome --- for a gen 1 product. Fans are (rightfully) going to overlook/dismiss its shortcomings. Because that's what you expect from a first gen product. And it's going to stay that way for the next 3-4 years. It'll be Windows 10 all over again. Microscopic UI changes. Bug fixes that adds more bugs. Features that are added and then never built upon (I'm looking at you, People). And a promise that next year is going to be "the" year.

All of these problems stem from the head of the snake - CEO! It's all about making money for investors. They make out, like most companies these days - through marketing (lies and bullshit) that they are, 'in it for the consumer', 'Here for you', 'Care about the customer first'....blah blah blah, but really, it's all a pile of horseshit that is meant to keep the masses at bay while they take our money, give poor service and do nothing meaningful. And all the people that think this CEO is good for Microsoft are either short sighted or just ******* stupid.

Yeah I think that is partly the reason, also partly that different branches of MS don't seem to work together much (to little at least). But it is quite clear indeed that since the new CEO, progress has been conservative on many sides (except azure of course). At first it made sense; less Windows Phones but still some to at least keep it rolling, taking a step back from W8 to W10 for the better mostly, being a bit more conservative with Surface cpu upgrades to make them more reliable etc. But than you would eventually think MS would step some more on the pedal again (or maybe they do but they give up to fast on new features?). W10 is still a good OS and for me it is very stable, I just think but it could have been more.

I agree things seem to be getting worse. Big defects keep coming out in monthly updates that should have been caught before. Back in February, the monthly update quite literally destroyed my dad's computer (wiped out all users and all files on the computer), I had to wipe it, install the january update (after trying february again), and not update it again until april came out. Big problems keep shipping, while major features or UI redesign happens extremely slow. Even now, how many years later, windows 10 is a mish mash of odd unmatched UI elements.

We have gone from needing Windows to loving Windows just like Nadella wanted.

Daniel do you think these issues might change with Panos leading? I keep thinking he has a nack for making really nice hardware and perhaps that will also extend to software look and feel.

Maybe. Definitely more possible, but it will be months, maybe even a year or more, before we can see/feel the changes if there are any to be had.

I'm really hoping under Panos leadership will change for the better. Maybe even hire more QA as well, though it feels like its more of the company decision to cut cost not hiring more QA, and find whatever they are doing now is more efficient. The issue is that lately we get more serious bugs, though rare at least never encountered them on all of my machines so far, but if I get those I will be frustrated as hell. Especially bugs related to file deletion or getting misplaced. File deletion bugs are very serious even on small numbers.

File deletion seems to be related to the default folders (especially downloads where technically it is a feature I think to make free space). I never had files being deleted in my own folders.

He has a huge uphill battle ahead of him. It's systemic throughout Microsoft at this point and for him to get a company that doesn't really care about this side of the business to go all in and change things for the better is going to take a miracle. Windows and consumers in general are an afterthought. I wish him luck. I really like the guy and I have always rooted for MS (until the past year or so) but he's 1 man standing in the middle of a river and somehow he needs to change the direction of it's current by himself. Not an enviable position to be in.

I've not experience it yet. Running 2018 surface laptop.

Man, I feel lucky. I rarely, if ever have problems on my Surface devices. I don't run any kind of release preview, just standard update cycle. I just got a Go 2 and was thinking the experience all feels better than ever. I also have a Studio, I don't think I've had a single crash and I use it hard 6-8 hrs a day for the last year. Why is my experience different?

I think your experience is what most people actually have with Windows (counting myself here too) since we don't run beta's/are not insiders and hence the experience is more stable. While generally most issues (of course not all) either arise from exotic hardware/software combinations or tech enthousiast that use insider versions or download feature updates as soon as possible (just check Reddit Surface and you will see quite many even trying to bypass the update restrictions set by MS to prevent people from updating their Surfaces to soon). Surface Go line also seems like a relatively reliable line together with the Surface Laptop line (and later Surface Pro models also seem more reliable).

I feel like all of Microsoft talent and real effort are going to Azure and cloud services. To address the Windows 10 stability brought up by Daniel I am not experiencing any issues.
As a developer I run Windows 10 on my Dell XPS 15 and often dont even bother to reboot for a week at a time.
I have yet to experience any OS issues with BSOD, GSOD, freezing, or random reboots. I also have an AMD based custom desktop I built myself for gaming and a Surface Go.
Neither of those devices are experiencing issues. As for your HP that could be the issue. I loath HP laptops as a developer. My last workplace provided me a HP laptop and that thing never ran right. There was always some type of issue going on. In regards to innovation on Windows 10, yes I feel like the OS has stagnated and is in need of a refresh.

I have been using Microsoft products since the early 1980s and for the next few decades they were all about getting new versions rolled out so they could keep the money machine humming along. I can't comment about Windows 95 and its successors as I jumped to Windows NT 4.0 instead. Looking back on that period it was a bit wild west with respect to quality. Windows XP was something of a disaster until Service Pack 2 was released. That was less a service pack and essentially a complete rewrite of XP to deal with its numerous security issues. Then there was Vista which initially was a mess because its bake time was spent on rewriting XP. Windows 7 was pretty excellent so we can skip that and move on to the great wasteland better known as Windows 8. Which brings us to Windows 10. Overall Windows 10, for my purposes, provides a computing environment that does everything I need. Prior to this period one thing that drove me up a wall was when Microsoft hadn't yet provided a seamless Outlook experience for non-corporate email and calendars. I had more than a few moments of excitement trying to get Google calendar to work seamlessly with Outlook and sync across my PCs and phone for a few years. We are now way past that and what Microsoft now provides, for me, is flat out excellent. More or less Windows 10 along with Microsoft 365 and the Microsoft Launcher on Android provides a solid foundation. That is the good part. We now live in a world where the expectation is that products simply work reliably for years. Back in the wild west days of computing having your machine get bricked sort of went with the territory. Not anymore. The challenge Microsoft faces each time it rolls out an update is mind boggling given the range of products supported by Windows 10 so having some froth here is to be expected and acceptable given the value proposition Microsoft provides. Still it does seem that Microsoft cannot consistently roll out an update anymore without bricking a bunch of machines and when they do it to their own machines, well, that is a bang your head on the table moment. With the exception of Edge Dev I run RTM software with my hardware a Dell XPS tower and a Surface Pro 7 with a computing environment that is rather sophisticated and rivals a small business environment. Nothing exotic but complex enough that having it bricked by a bad update really concerns me anymore. My confidence level is such that I will not install major updates until they have been out for a few months. So, do I think Microsoft’s update process is falling apart? Without a doubt. The consequences of failing to fix this cannot be underestimated. Apple just dumped Intel, in part, because Intel could not advance their chip technology. This mess created the opportunity for ARM to replace x86. Microsoft not being able to roll out updates reliably is like that. Their update issues are giving me a reason to consider moving on to Apple. We are in the middle of a transition to ARM based devices for a lot of computing which means a whole new hardware cycle and software. If the current situation doesn’t improve, I will be looking long and hard at Apple to meet my needs going forward. For my needs, the delta between Apple and Microsoft is not that great anymore because much of my work is done in a browser with my data stored on a NAS, OneDrive, and my Microsoft account. The OS and hardware I use is of lessor importance. Further, ambitious companies like Huawei, given the right circumstances just might decide to join Microsoft and Apple by providing their own software/hardware universe.

Good post. I do think that Windows 10 is reliable enough if you wait a bit with installing feature updates and it will probably not get worse than this (only better considering MS is more conservative now with pushing its feature updates automatically, which is a good thing I think).

After rereading my comment, I think it needs some clarification. My response to the question asked by this article, is Microsoft’s update process getting worse, is not black and white. First off, the reliability of Microsoft’s products has improved dramatically over the decades while the functionality and complexity have increased just as dramatically. What I am able to accomplish with their software today, for a home user, was effectively impossible a decade ago unless one resorted to rolling out something mimicking a barebones corporate environment. I run multiple machines, some on 24 hours a day for weeks at a time, that have access to terabytes of data that can be streamed around the house and most stunningly to my devices wherever I happen to be provided I have an internet connection. Windows 10 is the foundation that makes all this happen – I am like, holy smokes, this is fantastic stuff. In my lifetime I have gone from being amazed by a dual floppy PC and batch files to listening to a lossless FLAC file of Born In the U.S.A streamed from my home network to my cell phone and then piped through my car stereo while doing 70 m.p.h. Inherent in all this is my dependence on my computers, because the software is so mind blowingly excellent, has gone from being a hobby to being a critical part of my life. Microsoft software, in particular Windows 10, touches significant parts of my life that range from record keeping, my artwork, managing the business aspects of my life, communications, and entertainment. Make no mistake, I am all in on Microsoft 100% and that folks is exactly why the update issues are of real concern. A decade ago, having a machine get bricked was an annoyance and not much more as that only affected 10% of my life. Today, an update that takes down a machine or two pretty much grinds my life to a halt. Casual observation of Microsoft’s update process over the years is it generally works pretty well though its quirks, such as proverbial updating in the middle of a presentation, are like old shoes that never became comfortable. Given the insane matrix of software and hardware supported by Microsoft I take as a sign that there is a benign God in the universe who happens to like Bill Gates; frankly, that it works as well as it does is something of a miracle. I have never had an update blow up a machine; never, not once. At the same time I purposely run main stream hardware, RTM software, and I keep everything up to date with respect to software updates. This area of computing is complicated enough and I decided long ago that making it worse by not being responsible about maintaining my environment was dumb. I don’t like dumb. However, because I drank the Microsoft Kool-Aid, not by the cup but by the gallon, I now find their update issues distressing. No. Highly distressing. My perception is it is becoming more frequent in ways that are not trivial. When an update blew up a dual floppy machine nobody really cared; it was something of a badge of honor since it meant you were using computers. Today, my expectations are sky high because my dependency on my Windows 10 computers is sky high. And that folks is the crux of my concerns about Microsoft’s update issues. I have yet to be whacked by one of these update disasters but the increasing frequency of update problems, perceived or factual, has left this long time user concerned that it is just a matter of time before Microsoft is going to brick my life.

My work allowed me to upgrade to the Surface Book 3 (i7, 15", 512GB, 32GB RAM) recently and I've used both the SB1 and SB2. I've been quite disappointed in the SB3. Not only does it feel more top heavy than the previous ones (the wobble is worse on this one), but Windows will lock up to where mouse, keyboard and touch will not respond, even if the system seems to be working (videos will keep playing). Often it will go away but 1-2 minutes later. This is not a reactionary statement but for mobile and perhaps "PC", I've looked at Apple and their WWDC announcements. This weeks' Windows Weekly and their discussion of Apple's future and how Windows feels like Muhammad Ali in the ring one last time beyond his prime has given me pause on what works for me with my home network. I want a little more cohesion between my devices in my currently Microsoft / Google hybrid. Microsoft's partnership with Samsung hasn't yielded the panacea of better connecting Android / Microsoft devices (though YourPhone is making strides.) It just feels time to see if I need to change up my "What I Use" devices.

I had this exact problem (Windows stuttering) with a Surface Pro7 that I bought around Christmas time. After speaking to MS Support, they advised me to get i replaced as there was a hardware fault. RMAd back to MS and new one sent out. Been perfect since. I think there was a bad batch of hardware that was released and MS knew about it but didnt want to admit it. Send it back and get it replaced because no end of patching, reinstalling or troubleshooting will get rid of it.

1st of all, you need to distinguish between Windows and Surface. They're not the same thing or same programs. 2nd, no, I don't think Windows 10 stability is worsening. In fact, I think it's better now than it was in 2017 or 2018.

It's amazing how awful this software company is at software. I actually think they are better at building hardware than they are at releasing quality software at this point. It's not just Windows that has issues either but man does it have a ton of them. Seriously thinking of going somewhere else other than having a gaming PC but I despise Apple and Google is evil as can be. Consumers are really trapped now because there are major issues regardless of what platform or ecosystem you choose.

I'm not convinced Apple or Google are any better at Desktop Operating Systems. Windows is still used by about 80-90% of the market. The variables are much greater. Apple couldn't even design a working keyboard for the past 4 years, until this year.

Oh trust me you're right. They are both worse. But I expect them to be worse at it. Microsoft should leagues ahead of them but instead, it's like amateur hour at Microsoft. It's embarrassing.

I'm never convinced Windows is worse than any other OS. It's just used by a lot more people. Apple couldn't even design a working keyboard for the past 4 years, until this year. For me it's getting better. I also had to wipe my hard drive and reinstall Windows 10 after a BSOD went horribly wrong, but this is once in 5 years of using Windows 10. A Sony laptop, Surface Pro 4 and now Surface Pro X.

Aren't some of the issues at least due to using Release Preview software? When it comes to Operating Systems I stay well away from anything not fully released and now wait 30 days before installing Feature Updates.

There is a tenacity to exalt what happens in Apple as if it were perfection. Many experienced people, on the other hand, have mocked Apple's recent innovations, some recycled from Windows 10 and Android.
For example, the keyboard glimpse to close open applications (Win-D) in MacOS has not yet arrived. :-) And I could give many more examples...
Of course, as in all evolving Operating Systems there is still work to be done, but what is here now is really pleasant. I write these notes from a Surface Laptop (I also have a Pro 3 and a Desktop PC assembled with Windows 10) and I always find it satisfying to work with the many features of Windows 10: My Phone, Microsoft 365, Windows Ink, amazing integration with Android etc.

I could care less if the copy of macOS running on my MacBook Pro has “borrowed” features from another OS, or if Windows 10 has features that the Mac has yet to “recycle”. What I do care about is that I can generally install an OS update on my MacBook Pro without worrying about the safety of the files in my home directory. My experience with Windows 10 updates on my XPS 13 and my Surface Book 2 on the other hand, gives me no such assurance. Microsoft can’t get OS updates right on their own hardware - the repeating BSOD on Surface Book 2s in late 2018 comes to mind, along with the more recent delay in Windows 2004 for those same machines. Hell, half of the time the Surface Book 2 (and apparently now the 3) won’t undock the screen correctly. Yeah, Apple isn’t perfect. But on a scale of 1-10 in terms of quality assurance, they and Microsoft are at very opposite ends.

The fact that Apple is perfect to write fans; but a journalist should never make this mistake.

None of this matters. Enterprise customers - the only Windows customers MS cares about - will never see any of these issues. Everything will be fixed by the time businesses roll this out. Enterprise customers will continue to say that “Windows 10 stability has never been better”. Only the fools who insist on installing everything on day 1 will claim that “Windows 10 stability is going downhill”. The sooner you understand and accept this, the easier your life will be.

I've Win10 Home laptop which is sluggish. On the other side, I've Win10 Pro PC which runs without any problem, but sometimes lag.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Microsoft needs to re-hire the QA team and programmatic testers. It's not fair to Panos Panay et al to lumber them with such a task without the means to actually right the ship persay. It's like giving the helm to the next the Captain and not fixing the rudder before doing so. Before the handover over the helm, the engineers were forced to walk the plank. Because lets face it, during the rounds of multiple lay offs Microsoft fired many talented engineers, testers, developers etc. Such people who were around prior to the NT kernel, helped developed that kernel, patch it, test it and therefore know the ins and outs. Without the QA team and programmatic testers, the teams have to also have to test, re-iterate etc alongside developing. Microsoft can't solely rely on insiders for telemetry data and not to mention people will also have to sift through all the feedback.... I know I've been less than kind on leaving constructive feedback during the previews for Windows Phone. Mind you anyone would after reporting something several times and that issue not be fixed for a few years lol. In terms of annecdotal stability issues, a few days ago I got the alarming message ntoskernel could not be found. I can repeat and replicate that message with some voltage tweaks to undervolt and the now removed EVGA G3 650 SuperNova PSU. I'm currently running off an ancient Corsair TX650M which I bought when I built a 2500K sandy bridge system about 8 to 9 months before Ivy bridge was released. Mind you I have gotten one or two IRQ not less or equal to errors, Kernel security errors after switching PSUs. So hard to gauge if it's a hardware fault, software fault, or both as some of the random crashes and bsods were also DCOM related in the event viewer. In order to isolate the problem I have had to fork out over £200 from my savings for a bronze rated PSU which could get delivered today and a platinium PSU which will be delivered in July. I need a PSU for now three PCs, two PC's I'm building for relatives and for the dying 2500K build. The latter is a back up PSU incase I have BSOD and I need to quickly be able to remote in for work - on that note Citrix Workspace is in the Microsoft store and functions near enough like the Win32 application. I've kept running thread of all the issues I've been having on the forums with my H500M build, what I've tried to fix them in case anyone else experiences the same issues. As well as what I've upgrades I've added etc incase these causes issues down the line. With some undervolting thrown into the mix.

Yes, windows 10 users learn it the hard way....! That is the reason I am still using 8.1 pro as my daily OS. Much more stable than 10 for sure...!

I installed a fresh copy of Win10 1909 last fall on a new formatted partition and immediately after installation before installing any apps or interact with OS, I ran the SFC /Scannow command. The command find some files that it could not repair with a huge log file to inspect....What does that tell you about Windows 10...?!!!

I switched from Vista to Mac years ago and 2 years ago Mac to Win 10 in Surface. Every OS has quality control issues whether Apple or MS. No issues here and love Win 10!

In a world of cloud computing, you've given many reasons to leave and switch to a Mac, they also have problems, but less so than Microsoft are having, with new silicone, and the way Apple squeeze efficiency, the next 3 years are going to be very interesting.

"I cannot recall the number of times I had to reinstall Windows 95 (all 21 floppy disks!) as a teenager because a single file was corrupted." Bad hard drive?