The 80/20 rule illustrated?

One per cent bugs cause half of Microsoft errors : HindustanTimes.com

“About 20 per cent of the bugs cause 80 per cent of all errors, and – this is stunning to me – one per cent of bugs cause half of all errors.”

from Steve Ballmer’s comments on some recent analysis of customer-reported bugs. Contrast this with a tidbit from David Pogue NYTimes column for today:

I agree enthusiastically that software writers (and hardware guys) should never release a product until they observe a bunch of “slightly less capable than average users” wrestle with the product for the first time. Programmers should be bound and gagged, with their eyes and ears taped open, behind at least 15 users from their targeted user pools, just to watch these “zeta testers” grapple with the product for the first time, fresh out of the box.