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Microsoft denies Windows 7 bug is 'showstopper'

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Windows 7

Ina Fried CNET News

Published: 06 Aug 2009 08:51 BST

Microsoft on Wednesday said it is looking into reports of a potential bug in the final version of Windows 7.

However, Microsoft's top Windows executive said in a blog posting that the issue appears to be neither widespread nor the "showstopper" some are claiming it to be.

The issue, noted on several enthusiast sites this week, involves a fairly arcane process used to check for problems in a particular disk. It is suggested that under certain scenarios, Windows 7 would siphon off all the available memory to perform the scan, potentially crashing the system.

One report went so far as to characterise the issue as a potential "showstopper" that might derail the product's launch, while others, such as ZDNet's Ed Bott, have downplayed the threat.

In a discussion on one of the blogs that has raised the issue, top Windows executive Steven Sinofsky said the company is looking into the issue. However, he said the company has not reproduced the crashing issue or received widespread reports of crashes.

"While we appreciate the drama of 'critical bug' and then the pickup of 'showstopper' that I've seen, we might take a step back and realise that this might not have that defcon level," Sinofsky wrote on the site.

"Bugs that are so severe as to require immediate patches and attention would have to have no workarounds and would generally be such that a large set of people would run across them in the normal course of using their PC... So far this is not one of those issues."

Microsoft finalised the code for Windows 7 two weeks ago and is preparing to release it to developers in Microsoft's MSDN and Technet programmes on Thursday, as well as making it available to some large businesses on Friday. Those plans are continuing, a Microsoft representative said on Wednesday.

The Microsoft representative also confirmed that Sinofsky's comments were authentic and that Microsoft was looking into the issue, but declined to comment further.

Credit: Windows 7 bug likely not a 'showstopper' from CNET News