The Testing Blog

I’ve you’re a hardware or software developer, you obviously know that Microsoft Windows 7 is on the way – and it’s coming quickly! According to the latest rumors (backed up by the stability of the test builds being made available), Windows 7 should be released by the end of the year, but the question is are you (and your products) ready? Have you tested your hardware and/or software products under Windows 7?

With the dismal release that was Windows Vista, many users and corporations have held off on upgrading their Windows XP or earlier platforms to the latest version of Windows. There is a huge amount of pent-up demand for a fast, stable, secure operating system, and as soon as Windows 7 hits, a large number of computers will be upgrading. Don’t get caught unprepared, as many manufacturers did with Windows Vista.

Windows 7 is much more than just fancy window dressings. Windows 7 has made significant performance improvements on the underlying technology which is based on Windows Vista, including much of the same driver technologies. If you’ve submitted products for Windows certification, you’ve probably already discovered that Microsoft is requiring that new submissions include testing under Windows 7. So, if you haven’t already, make sure to get testing NOW!

Previously, we discussed using VNC to remotely control a test platform. Today, a quick introduction to Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Like VNC, RDP provides remote access to a platform, using an RDP server and RDP client, to control the keyboard and mouse of the platform as if you were sitting right in front of it. However, there are many differences between the two products:

• While VNC is GPL’d software, RDP is Microsoft’s proprietary protocol. So, while both the VNC server and client have been ported to multiple platforms (Windows, Mac OS, Linux, etc.), the RDP Server is typically a Windows-based product.
• Windows XP & Windows Vista ship with Remote Desktop Connection and Remote Assistance, both of which use the RDP protocol client & server protocols. While Mac OS X and Linux (Ubuntu, etc.) typically ship with VNC-based products.
• Due to Microsoft’s low-level hooks in their software, RDP connections usually perform much better than VNC products.
• Microsoft’s products use RSA Security’s RC4 cipher for encryption.

Which one is best? That’s up to you. Both offer many functions. If you’re using Windows platforms and you want the greatest performance, grab a copy of an RDP-based application like Remote Desktop Connection. If you’re cross-platforms, VNC may be a better tool for you. Either way, get your remote connections setup so you can get out of work on time!

Back in 1945, engineers running the Harvard Mark II (an early electromechanical computer at Harvard University) found an actual bug in their hardware – literally, a moth that got stuck in a relay was causing problems. Decades later, we’re still finding “bugs” in our computer hardware and software. Wired has an interesting article on their website talking about History’s Worst Software Bugs, including Intel’s Pentium floating point bug which cost them $475 million to repair. Although the article is a few years old, it’s an interesting read.

And the bugs are still continuing today. Just a few months ago, in 2008, Seagate released their 1.5TB Barracuda hard drives with an error that could hang the hard drive during streaming video or low-speed transfers. When they attempted to release a bug fix, they ended up bricking the 500GB Barracudas for other users!

Just remember these “history lessons” before you release your product to market.