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Testing the Xbox: Lessons for All

Testing a game console isn’t all fun and games. However, with more than 50 million Xbox 360 consoles sold, and the amazing success of the Kinect sensor, it’s certainly a hotbed of excitement for software developers and testers alike. Veteran tester Alan Page is having a blast on the Xbox console team and shares an insider’s view of what it’s like to test one of the most popular entertainment systems ever created. Learn the details of testing the Xbox from the guts of the operating system to the latest applications—and everything in between. Discover how the Xbox team creatively balances test automation with hands-on testing, how they’ve turned traditional measures of code coverage and test pass rates on edge, and many other ways the Xbox team  builds, tests, and delivers software that both end-users and game developers love. Join Alan to discover new ideas, see exciting demonstrations, and take away practical ideas that any team can use.

Alan Page, Microsoft

Alan Page is a principal SDET—a fancy name for tester—on the Xbox console team at Microsoft. Edging up on twenty years in software testing, Alan has previously worked on a variety of Microsoft products including Windows, Windows CE, Internet Explorer, and Office Lync. He spent some time as Microsoft’s director of test excellence where he developed and ran technical training programs for testers throughout the company.

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