Microsoft Connect Feedback

Does the feedback mechanism on Microsoft Connect really work? By "work" I mean is customer feedback changing the product? From my perspective it's too early to make the call. In SQL2K5 SP2 we tried to address the top issues submitted through connect (based on the voting mechanism). I haven't run the analysis to see how successful we were - I should do that. Now we're in the middle of the dev cycle for SQL2K8 andI can tell you that feedback coming through Connect is playing a role in directing our work. This isn't to say that every item entered in Connect will be addressed, but it does mean your vote does count. After we ship SQL2K8 I'll go back and analyze the data to determine what percentage of all "bugs" fixed came through Connect.

Until then, keep posting your issues and voting active items.

Comments

• Anonymous
  July 05, 2007
  >> Does the feedback mechanism on Microsoft Connect really work? nope - it doesn't. i gave up using connect some time ago for various reasons. WM_MY0.02$ -thomas

• Anonymous
  July 05, 2007
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  July 06, 2007
  Agreed with the other two -- Bugs are closed way too often by someone saying they can't repro.  In addition, many suggestions that have a huge number of 5-star votes are simply ignored.  I expended a huge amount of energy working with Connect adding suggestions, voting, and validating, and it came to nothing.  I don't know what drives feature priorities for SQL Server, but it appears that Connect has nothing to do with it.

• Anonymous
  July 09, 2007
  I am perhaps naive - and no friend of Microsoft - but the comments above are very generalised.  Would you submit a few examples of "OBVIOUS" bugs that have been ignored / closed.

• Anonymous
  July 12, 2007
  Often they close bugs as 'won't fix' or 'by design' or 'fixed in next version' when they're obviously bugs affecting users on current version of product.  They answer on fixed in next version was to contact support services .. but if you've already found a workaround, what's the point in contacting PSS an'd paying for it ... But I don't htink thats the same as saying there is no value in entering it on connect so that it can get fixed and everyone affected can stop working around problems ... In other cases I've seen items closed with the comment in text saying that they'd revisit it in the next version.. I'm not sure 'closed' is the right way to put it, maybe create a status for that like 'deferred'. Not all of these comments refer to feedback for sqlserver, but for other products like visual studio, etc.  The disposition of feedback entries has somewhat discouraged me from contributing, only now bothering to enter the most annoying things... Of course, YMMV, but thats my experience...