Microsoft Connect not appropriate for Visual C++ 2017 ICE reports

[Alf P. Steinbach]

I received this:

> Greetings from Microsoft Connect!
>
> This notification was generated for feedback item: ICE (Internal
> Compiler Error) on C++14 `constexpr` function
> (http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/3128497/ice-internal-compiler-error-on-c-14-constexpr-function)
> which you submitted at the Microsoft Connect
> (http://connect.microsoft.com) site.
>
> Thank you for submitting feedback. Now we have built a better report
> a problem
> site(https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/index.html) for
> VS2017 bugs,please launch VS2017 and sign in, then report the problem
> using the VS IDE in-product Report-a-Problem tool to us by
> right-clicking on the feedback icon next to QuickLaunch, or by
> choosing Help | Send Feedback | Report a Problem from the main menu
> if you encounter a problem with Visual Studio in the future. For more
> information, see details from
> https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/ide/how-to-report-a-problem-with-visual-studio-2017.
>
> You may receive a general "Feedback Item Updated" notification as
> well, if any other changes were made by Microsoft.
>
> Thank you for using Microsoft Connect!
>
> Regards,
>
> the Microsoft Connect Team

At first I wondered where the Report-a-Problem tool this mail is talking
about, was in Visual Studio; I couldn't find it.

But I finally did, and could see that my bug report had not been
migrated: it was not in the list of internal compiler errors.

Using the link to my original report so thoughtfully provided by
Microsoft, with a view towards copying it over to the new bug database,
I found that I had to LOG IN in order to see it. That indicates that
others can't see it either, without logging in. How's that for
transparency and open discussion.

This smells like old Microsoft where it was just plain impossible to
report a bug unless you were a paying MSDN member or an MVP. I've been
both, plus of course working for Microsoft-oriented companies, so I know
how it was when it worked. But for the regular jack, which I've also
been, you were sent on a wild goose chase down a labyrinth of forms, and
when you finally had managed to find the right one and had filled in its
inane fields, and clicked Submit, you were greeted by an error page. In
defense of Microsoft, Google has also used that approach, so it's not
like Microsoft is a worst among companies. It's just that at the time,
and apparently now again, they're not very good.

How can you say this is a buggy product? Look, we have far fewer bug
reports than with any other product! - Well, my take it on it: after
downloading VS 2017, and opening the first project, and asking it to
build, it crashed. That's the very /first/ thing it did. Crash. The bug
report in question is about an umpteenth' crash after that. Just that
this particular crash was easily reproduced and hence, I reported it.


Hope this helps someone,

- Alf

[Stuart Redmann]

Alf P. Steinbach <alf.p.stein...@gmail.com> wrote:
[snip] after

> downloading VS 2017, and opening the first project, and asking it to
> build, it crashed. That's the very /first/ thing it did. Crash. The bug
> report in question is about an umpteenth' crash after that. Just that
> this particular crash was easily reproduced and hence, I reported it.
>
>
> Hope this helps someone,
>
> - Alf
>

When I first tried to open a project with Xcode 5, it didn't even get as
far as the splash screen, it crashed right away. Nowadays I try to wait 3-6
months before I use any new product, be it software or hardware.

Regards,
Stuart