This is how Microsoft “keeps the trains running”

Funny but I saw something similar in a grocery store here in Ontario, Canada a couple of days ago. All their displays show the same thing (adverts!!), and all had a error message box in the middle. I asked the clerk about it and she said there was nothing they could do about it for two weeks because the manager was on vacation.

Amused in Ontario

Let's hope those trains aren't run on Windows...

Maybe they should be running VISTA more secure, stable and faster for suree! </sarcasm>

1. The screen saver shows 'Windows XP Professional'. Any embedded use of XP should be using Windows XP Embedded, which doesn't have the screensaver enabled by default, and it costs less money to license it. It also doesn't pop up these on-screen error dialogs, if correctly configured.

2. If 'Windows has recovered from a serious error', that means it blue-screened. Microsoft's statistics from on-line crash reporting showed that a very large proportion (from memory, over 70%) of blue screens came from third-party device driver bugs. A further 15% came from hardware failures. 10% of crash dumps were too corrupted to analyze. Only 5% were directly attributable to a Microsoft coding error. (Source: "Windows Internals, Fourth Edition", Russinovich, Solomon, MS Press.)

Of course this is a platform information screen, not anything actually involved with running the trains.

Basically, you shouldn't deploy an embedded information system using a white-box PC running XP Pro.

I saw a good old active desktop crash at London Euston recently. It amused me.

twice in 12 months ive stood and watched 2 different ATM machines (here in the UK) reboot, boot into Windows NT and 2000 respectivley, and autologon windows and then their app from what appeared to be a simple statup folder shortcut. it booted to the desktop and after a short delay the app opened to the taskbar, like a regular executed app

@Andy Woudstra: Yeah, I can't wait till we get WINDOWS on the GO Train platforms. That would be worse than "GO TV" assaulting my brain every commute.

One of virgins new pendalino trains stopped on the west coast main line north of lancaster due to brake failure. The announcer stated they would have to power off the train to fix to problem.

While I don't basically disagree with what you're saying, I'd like to point out that 5% of several billion dumps a year is still a hell of a lot of crashes. If Windows was really solid and reliable instead of the buggy pile that it is, the figure would be more like 5 crashes, rather than 5% of all crashes.



http://hosted.pikipimp.com/pimped_photo/s/image/24/858/92/Micrsoft-ATM-compiled.jpg

Seriously, why cant they ever make a simple product?

Hey Mike Dimmick, does that 'source: MS press...' happen to mention if those 70% of crashes due to drivers are WHQL approved drivers tested and OK'ed by MS per chance? 
And if those drivers don't happen to crash due to mistakes in the damn windows core? Or MS's neglect in updating information about functions they provide in it.
I think Russinovich's blog showed that windows can make drivers crash too, it's not always the other way round.

...one of those machines went into WGA "reduced-functionality" mode?

AT adds: You're obviously easily amused.

Although Vista have problems. All I can say there are less BSOD and errors on vista than XP.

WHY NOT USE VISTA

XP isn't the only thing that can crash; http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/OH_WELL.aspx . On a plane, nonetheless.

Kabillo wrote: "Although Vista have problems. All I can say there are less BSOD and errors on vista than XP. 

WHY NOT USE VISTA"

That's only becuase there are less applications actually being run on Vista.

Well that and the fact the Vole won't allow anything really useful to be run on Vista unless it either becomes the owner or collects it's tax ;-)


I have seen a good deal of those including Blue Screen of Death and CMOS crash screen... (No Drive found)... :p I have seen the WGA only once and that wasn't at the train station but on one of Tivoli Gardens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivoli_Gardens%2C_Copenhagen)
ticket machines... They always crack me up... :D