BugNet slams "abysmal" software vendors

BugNet - the software industry's unofficial bug watchdog - has slammed the industry for producing software so "abysmal" that it has had to withhold its annual bug performance award for 1998.

The damning decision appeared yesterday on the organisation's Web site instead of an announcement giving the winner of the BugNet Annual Award. The award is the result of a year's research and user feedback compilation, and tries to show which of the biggest software packages are the most bug-free.

Bruce Brown, a spokesman for BugNet, proclaimed: "We have tabulated the bug fix records of the major PC software vendors as usual, but we are not going to give out an award for 1998 because, frankly, the PC software industry's performance has been abysmal."

Brown added that vendors are adding insult to injury by increasing the cost and difficulty of getting technical support for increasingly bug-ridden software. "This is an industry that has gotten in the habit of shaving the value it provides its customers and then humiliating them when they complain", he said.

According to BugNet, bug fix rates have declined with every new mass-market version of Windows. Microsoft's Office product manager, Jonathan Hulse, said he couldn't understand how the organisation arrived at these figures, as he believes the number of bugs in Microsoft software is going down.

Hulse added: "Quality is the fundamental mission of our product team and to do that, we are investing substantial resources in testing."

Microsoft was not alone on BugNet's blacklist. Iomega, Lotus and Norton (Symantec) also received a slamming report for their technical support and pricing. Lotus was unavailable for comment.