-=PCTechTalk=- Re: Microsoft: The Customer Experience Improvement Program
- From: "Wyatt M. Portendt" <nunyabidness6@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 23:26:46 -0500
They have to do something. People are very concerned about privacy and
security online and their up and coming competition (Linux) already has some
pretty good privacy and security settings built into even their basic
programs. Linux also turns most of the security on when it ships as opposed
to MS which defaults to "autoblab."
What they fail to mention is that Windows (XP at least) comes with Alexa and
several Microsoft "utilities" that phone home immediately which are built
into the OS. I just did a new install of an OEM version with no additional
programs added and before I connected the cable had to clean it out with
Adaware and Spybot before I went online.
It's mostly publicity. They want to seem like they care, but mostly all their
own products keep in close touch with the mothership via the internet. Check
out the online settings for Media player, Works, XP, Office, and probably
every other MS product and you'll find they are more concerned with other
software companies tracking you and it seems they feel that *they* are doing
it just to "help" you. <G>
On Tuesday 30 September 2003 08:44, you wrote:
> Has anyone seen this?
>
> I downloaded Windows Messanger v5 this morning and just one tab away from
> my online status frame there was in the notifications frame, (where updates
> are usually displayed), a message asking me would I care to join the above
> program.
>
> It's really nice I think that Microsoft in this instance havent' just went
> ahead and turned the feature of collecting data on, (Real.com), without
> asking the customer first.
>
>
> Any comments?
>
> I can see lots of people are going to be unhappy about this. But it's one
> of those things, they are not forcing the program upon any customers.
>
> Microsoft gets a bad rep alot of the time. Sometimes justified but
> sometimes just for being a Corporate business and just because their bugs
> are more publisised in the media and online that alot of those Linux and
> other OS users run into. But that's just my take.
>
> Here's the url and article.
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/products/ceip/english/default.htm
>
> Continuing Software Improvement
> at Microsoft
>
> Microsoft has always held delivering the right software at the right time
> with quality as its first priority. To realize that priority, Microsoft has
> gone
> to great lengths to engage our customers with focus groups, surveys,
> customer feedback and even visits to our customers' homes and workplaces.
> This drive
> for excellence has done great things for our software and helped our
> customers by providing the right tools for their lives. Even with all the
> improvement
> we've enjoyed so far, we believe we have opportunities to improve.
>
> For that reason, Microsoft has created the Customer Experience Improvement
> Program. With this program, we are looking to get our customers even more
> actively
> involved in helping to create the world's best software. By participating
> in the program, you can help us focus our work on the features that you use
> most
> often, tell us where to simplify our software when it is too difficult and
> introduce new capabilities that increase your productivity. Basically said,
> being a part of the Customer Experience Improvement Program helps us help
> you.
>
> That's great - I'm all for better software but it sounds like a lot of work
> for me to do.
> Actually, the best part about the program is that there is really no work
> for you to do. Should you choose to participate, all the work can be done
> behind
> the scenes with no additional effort, time requirement or inconvenience to
> you.
>
> Ok, so then how does the program work?
> If you agree to join the program, small pieces of anonymous information
> will be sent to Microsoft about how your software is working while you are
> using it. The people who create software at Microsoft can then use this
> data in an aggregated form to help make future versions of that software
> better and more
> useful to you. Any information shared by you is completely anonymous and
> absolutely zero information is personally identifiable as you.
>
> Why does Microsoft need to know this information? Is this some part of a
> large advertising campaign?
> The Customer Experience Improvement Program is our newest tool to help us
> produce software our customers need. With the program you are directly
> influencing
> how software is designed and products are made. As more people use
> computers, we have noticed our traditional tools have not been able to keep
> up pace
> with our savvy and sophisticated customers. Simply put, we needed a better
> way to keep in tune with our customer's needs. This program is not for
> advertising
> or sales in any way, the program is completely anonymous. You will never
> have to complete a form, fill out a survey or answer a phone call.
>
> What types of information will you collect? And why?
> Microsoft always tries to understand exactly how and where our customers
> use their software. To do this we invest millions in focus group testing
> and surveys,
> but at the end of the day, we still need to use assumptions and informed
> guesses. A few of the things we want to understand better are:
> List of 4 items
> . The kind and number of errors you see - We try to ship error-free
> software every version, but we simply cannot know how every different
> computer in the world will perform with our software. When we know more
> about the errors our customers experience, we can concentrate on
> eliminating those error-prone areas.
> . Software performance - Sometimes a feature of software can be difficult
> to learn and use. If we know more about exactly where people are having
> problems
> and how often those problems occur, we can simplify the software and make
> it easier to use.
> . Hardware performance - There are hundreds of millions of computers in the
> world, and each of them is slightly different. We can improve our
> software's reliability when we know what kind of computer equipment is used
> most, and whether certain computers are having difficulty with our
> software. . Quality of service - Waiting for your software to respond is
> frustrating. We can improve the performance (speed) of our software when we
> know where, when
> and how often the quality of our services is lacking. Helping us with
> actual, real-world information can make your software work that much better
> for you.
> list end
>
> Ok, but how do I join? Or if I decide to stop participating, how do I
> leave? When you are installing software that is a part of the Customer
> Experience Improvement Program, you will be asked to join during
> installation. When prompted,
> just click "Yes". If in the future you no longer want to help, you can turn
> the program off (this is usually an option found on the Help menu, but it
> can
> vary by software). If you do choose to leave, we thank you for helping us
> and really appreciate your assistance!
>
> How often will I be sharing this anonymous information with you?
> How often you will share information depends on the software title you are
> using. In general the information is shared once per day.
>
> This sounds good, but I'm still concerned. Is this anything like the
> "spyware" I've heard about? Is this really anonymous?
> No, this is not spyware; yes, the information collected is anonymous. You
> participate in the program by choosing to do so, and you can easily leave
> the
> program at any time. Also, the program only works well with large numbers
> of our customers participating tracking a single user's errors and shared
> information
> is not that useful. The information you share really only becomes helpful
> when it is looked at in aggregate, and thought of as "big picture" issues.
> Microsoft
> is absolutely committed to protecting customer's privacy and any
> information collected in the program would be completely anonymous.
>
> Will I be able to see what information I'm sharing with you?
> Unfortunately, no. We designed this program to not interfere how you work
> or how your computer functions. To do that, the information you are sharing
> is stored as a binary format file (zeros and ones) and not text. Holding
> the information in binary makes it very small and easy to share with us,
> unfortunately,
> it also makes it impossible to translate and interpret locally without
> having to create a complicated translator. Even if you could read the
> information,
> it would probably be meaningless to you while of great interest to a
> software engineer making a programming decision (for example,
> Size_of_Page_File =
> 128 MBs).
>
> Is there any unique identifier that I share with my data, like a timestamp
> or my Internet address?
> When you join the program, a randomly generated number is created; that
> number is used every time you share information with us. Since the number
> is completely
> random, we cannot associate the number with you. Instead, we use that
> number to distinguish how widespread the feedback we receive is. For
> example, this number allows us to tell between one customer having an error
> 100 times and 100 customers having the same error once. Being able to make
> that
> distinction
> is very valuable in prioritizing how we improve the software you use.
> However, having that number cannot tell us who that customer is.
>
> Will you be sharing this information with other companies?
> No. This information will only be used by Microsoft in aggregate form for
> the purpose of improving our software for our customers.
>
>
>
> 2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.
> Last Updated: September 07, 2002
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