You have to realize it would take years to find every bug in some programs and I doubt you could. In this business no one can wait years, so you have to be selective and know where to look. We can do that here because of our experience. Twenty per cent of code produces 80 per cent of the bugs. Finding 30 to 40 bugs on a piece of new software would be considered low.
Most programs take four months to evaluate.
One has taken 16 months and is still not finished. The process of discovering bugs is complex and the lab must simulate every possible combination of operating system, software and application likely to be used. Then they add what a computer operator is likely to do. It's not something a program designer generally can do. The average software company doesn't have the expertise, which is why they come to QA, MacIntosh said.