Why Stability Matters More Than New Features for Many Users

To Microsoft Edge Leadership and Product Management,

I am writing as a long time Microsoft user who is seriously considering moving away from Microsoft Edge because of the cumulative frustration caused by frequent updates and the disruption they create.

The immediate issue prompting this letter is the recent Edge update that caused website favicons in Favorites to disappear and be replaced with generic globe icons. While this may seem like a minor issue to some, it significantly affects how I use the browser. I maintain a large, organized collection of Favorites, and I rely on visual recognition of icons to quickly locate websites. Removing that functionality has made navigation slower and more frustrating.

However, this letter is not really about favicons.

My larger concern is the direction that modern software development appears to have taken. Years ago, software updates were less frequent and more deliberate. New versions were released perhaps once a year. Users had time to learn the software, become comfortable with it, and develop confidence that it would continue working in familiar ways.

Today, it feels as though major applications are updated continuously. Changes arrive monthly, weekly, and sometimes even more frequently. Features move. Interfaces change. Workflows are altered. Bugs appear in areas that previously worked correctly. Users are expected to adapt constantly.

What is most frustrating is the feeling that stability has become secondary to rapid deployment.

I understand that no software is perfect. I understand that bugs happen. What concerns me is the impression that organizations increasingly accept a certain level of user disruption as an unavoidable cost of doing business. Perhaps each individual problem affects only a small percentage of users. But over time, those small percentages accumulate. Each issue chips away at customer trust and confidence.

Many users do not take the time to complain. They simply become frustrated and eventually leave.

History has shown that dominant technology companies can lose their position when they stop listening closely to the user experience. Yahoo once seemed untouchable as a search engine and email provider. Google succeeded because it focused on simplicity, reliability, and making things easier for users.

As a customer, I want software that is dependable. I want updates that improve my experience without disrupting established workflows. I want to feel that stability is valued as highly as innovation.

Most importantly, I want to feel that the people making decisions about products understand how those decisions affect the people who use them every day.

The recent Edge issue may be resolved in a future update. My concern is that the issue reflects a broader trend that many users are experiencing across modern software.

I hope Microsoft will place greater emphasis on quality assurance, stability, backward compatibility, and the long term user experience. Those qualities are often what build customer loyalty, and what keep users from looking elsewhere.

Sincerely,

A frustrated but long time Microsoft customer