Testing on multiple platforms

[cteno4]

One thing to keep in mind is the old permutation problem with drivers and 
hardware on PCs. yes you can boot multiple OSs on the same pc, but they 
will be the same hardware/driver permutations. Ive been bitten in the ass 
before (but rarely with MC) by certain driver/hardware permutations that 
were only found when the product was tested in professional testing labs 
where they tried multiple hardware/driver configs with multiple OSs. if 
its a product for sale then you should seriously think about professional 
testing, customer support and returns cost you big $$ very fast (just ask 
Disney about the lion king CD!) A small permutation test will start at 
$2k and go up depending on how many systems you want and how much you 
have them bang on it in each system. so even if you get a pc set up with 
multiple OSs booting on it, you cant test for this problem.

ive tested many of my products on the mac side in apple's testing lab 
(free if youre a developer, just have to get yourself to cupertino ca) 
and never had a machine specific bug on the mac side, only OS specific. 
Same goes with customer bug complaints, far far fewer on the mac and 
never machine specific, where as on the pc there are always a few system 
permutations that just puke no matter how hard its tested... One reason i 
am always happer to work on the mac side of the universe and also another 
reason I love MC since these issues on the dark side are much, much fewer 
than other authoring systems!




Jeffrey H. Reynolds, Ph.D.
6620 Michaels Dr.
Bethesda, MD  20817

301.469.8562

email: cteno4 at earthlink.net
       cteno4 at aol.com