Sometime in 2004 Microsoft introduce a new bug-tracking website. The released it with little fanfare, which is a shame, because a common complaint about Microsoft is that they never share their open/close bug list to anyone outside of the company. This site is public and allows anyone to enter a bug or suggest a product enhancement The codename for the project was Ladybug. Several months ago it was officially renamed the Product Feedback Center.
http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/productfeedback/Default.aspx
Hey, they really do listen. I submitted numerous bugs for the Visual Studio 2005 product. Each one was reviewed, tested and acted upon. I was part of the feedback loop and was notified when the issue was resolved.
I also made a number of suggestions. Not that not all my ideas were adopted. There were several that were deemed not worthy and were not worked on.
What is open?
Best of all you can see what other testers and users are concerned about. You can see a list of the top ten bugs and suggestions. If you look at a bug you can see when it was opened and what it’s current status is. You can validate that you have experienced the same bug or vote on whether the bug should be fix. Voting makes more sense to me for the suggestions. If I see a suggestion that I like I can quickly add my vote without having to enter all the information myself.
There is a way to post workarounds and you can request that Microsoft notify you when the bug status changes.