5 ms·

For a detailed account, there's always _Show Stopper!_ by G. Pascal Zachary which is a shot at writing a _Soul of the new Machine_ style book about Microsoft du

For a detailed account, there's always _Show Stopper!_ by G. Pascal Zachary which is a shot at writing a _Soul of the new Machine_ style book about Microsoft during the creation of NT. If that sort of story entertains you, I recommend it.

atombender 8y ago
Seconding this recommendation. It's well written and covers a very interesting period of Microsoft's history that many people don't know about.
enitihas 8y ago
Showstoppers is a really good book, not just about NT and it's history, but in my experience it gives a good overview of how such a large scale project looks from the point of view of everyone involved, including the CEO and people working on some specific modules.
kerng 8y ago
I remember reading it about 10 years ago and found it quite fascinating. It goes into a level of personal detail on people involved, not solely technical but also tells what happened on a personal and emotion level. Pretty insightful in understanding how NT was built.
teh_klev 8y ago
Both those books are excellent. I first read Soul of a New Machine back in the 80's when I was a spotty young apprentice Data General engineer learning how to repair Nova's and Eclipse S-series machines.
cpeterso 8y ago
If you're interested in the design and implemention of the NT kernel, check out David Solomon's Inside Windows NT. The book's technical level is roughly at that of an undergraduate class on operating systems, going a little deeper than this article.
- dblohm7 8y ago
  Note that the latest editions of that book are now named Windows Internals, if you want to read about more recent developments.
  - cpeterso 8y ago
    I guess my edition is rather old. The cover says it "includes pre-release information about Windows NT 5.0" (before it was renamed Windows 2000). :)
pjungwir 8y ago
Can someone tell me what is so great about SotNM? (It even won a Pulitzer.) I read a bunch of computer history books last year, and these were all more interesting IMO: - John Gernter, The Idea Factory - T.R. Reid, The Chip - Stephen Levy, Hackers - Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon, Where Wizards Stay Up Late - Michael Hiltzik, Dealers of Lightning - Susan Lammers, Programmers at Work (Actually I read Levy & Lammers a long time ago, but they're both better than SotNM too.) Those were full of themes like patents and broad use of technology, interaction between government and private enterprise, monopolies, private research institutes and the need for profit, challenges commercializing your discoveries, the culture around early computer use, etc. They had profiles of famous computer pioneers. They told the history of tech I use every day. SotNM didn't have anyone I recognized and was about a machine I'd never heard of before. Its biggest theme was how overworked the engineers were (also present in those other books, but not as dominant), at the cost of their health and marriages, with little-to-no reward. It was monotonous and depressing. So what did other people appreciate about it? With books I don't expect to always "see" everything there on my own, so maybe someone can help me learn what I'm missing.
- EamonnMR 8y ago
  I actually like SoTM the best out of the list you've posted. More so than the others it's a study of the everyday people of technology, not just the heroes that we've all heard of. Dealers of Lightning, Hackers, and Where Wizards Stay Up Late all do a fine job of telling human stories of technology you use, but SoTM is mainly about the day-to-day life in an industry, the triumphs and failures on a much smaller, more human scale. A similar book could have been written about companies I've worked at, and I'm sure everyone here can say the same. It's less of a history and more of a study of people. I enjoy this genera though, and I'll add Gertner and Lammers to the list. You may want to try Exploding the Phone by Phil Lapsley (about phone phreaking) and The New New Thing by Michael Lweis.
  - pjungwir 8y ago
    Thanks! I'll rethink SotNM some in light of that. I did enjoy the parts about "signing up" and the software/hardware interaction (although I wished for more technical details about that.) I didn't think it was bad btw, just not as rich as the others. Also after I wrote that comment I thought, "Monotony isn't always bad. The Iliad and Symphony of Sorrowful Songs are monotonous too. Maybe the form is expressing the long slog of the project." :-) Thanks also for the new recommendations!
sytelus 8y ago
There two books that people rarely talk about so these are hidden gems: * Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire * Barbarians Led by Bill Gates You really have to get past the title of second book. It's not really about bashing Microsoft or Gates but account of thirteen-year Microsoft veteran Marlin Eller that you perhaps never heard of. That makes this book all the more interesting and give real insight on how things were at lower levels in early days.

atombender 8y ago

Seconding this recommendation. It's well written and covers a very interesting period of Microsoft's history that many people don't know about.

enitihas 8y ago

Showstoppers is a really good book, not just about NT and it's history, but in my experience it gives a good overview of how such a large scale project looks from the point of view of everyone involved, including the CEO and people working on some specific modules.

kerng 8y ago

I remember reading it about 10 years ago and found it quite fascinating. It goes into a level of personal detail on people involved, not solely technical but also tells what happened on a personal and emotion level. Pretty insightful in understanding how NT was built.

teh_klev 8y ago

Both those books are excellent. I first read Soul of a New Machine back in the 80's when I was a spotty young apprentice Data General engineer learning how to repair Nova's and Eclipse S-series machines.

cpeterso 8y ago

If you're interested in the design and implemention of the NT kernel, check out David Solomon's Inside Windows NT. The book's technical level is roughly at that of an undergraduate class on operating systems, going a little deeper than this article.

dblohm7 8y ago
Note that the latest editions of that book are now named Windows Internals, if you want to read about more recent developments.
- cpeterso 8y ago
  I guess my edition is rather old. The cover says it "includes pre-release information about Windows NT 5.0" (before it was renamed Windows 2000). :)

pjungwir 8y ago

Can someone tell me what is so great about SotNM? (It even won a Pulitzer.) I read a bunch of computer history books last year, and these were all more interesting IMO: - John Gernter, The Idea Factory - T.R. Reid, The Chip - Stephen Levy, Hackers - Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon, Where Wizards Stay Up Late - Michael Hiltzik, Dealers of Lightning - Susan Lammers, Programmers at Work (Actually I read Levy & Lammers a long time ago, but they're both better than SotNM too.) Those were full of themes like patents and broad use of technology, interaction between government and private enterprise, monopolies, private research institutes and the need for profit, challenges commercializing your discoveries, the culture around early computer use, etc. They had profiles of famous computer pioneers. They told the history of tech I use every day. SotNM didn't have anyone I recognized and was about a machine I'd never heard of before. Its biggest theme was how overworked the engineers were (also present in those other books, but not as dominant), at the cost of their health and marriages, with little-to-no reward. It was monotonous and depressing. So what did other people appreciate about it? With books I don't expect to always "see" everything there on my own, so maybe someone can help me learn what I'm missing.

EamonnMR 8y ago
I actually like SoTM the best out of the list you've posted. More so than the others it's a study of the everyday people of technology, not just the heroes that we've all heard of. Dealers of Lightning, Hackers, and Where Wizards Stay Up Late all do a fine job of telling human stories of technology you use, but SoTM is mainly about the day-to-day life in an industry, the triumphs and failures on a much smaller, more human scale. A similar book could have been written about companies I've worked at, and I'm sure everyone here can say the same. It's less of a history and more of a study of people. I enjoy this genera though, and I'll add Gertner and Lammers to the list. You may want to try Exploding the Phone by Phil Lapsley (about phone phreaking) and The New New Thing by Michael Lweis.
- pjungwir 8y ago
  Thanks! I'll rethink SotNM some in light of that. I did enjoy the parts about "signing up" and the software/hardware interaction (although I wished for more technical details about that.) I didn't think it was bad btw, just not as rich as the others. Also after I wrote that comment I thought, "Monotony isn't always bad. The Iliad and Symphony of Sorrowful Songs are monotonous too. Maybe the form is expressing the long slog of the project." :-) Thanks also for the new recommendations!

sytelus 8y ago

There two books that people rarely talk about so these are hidden gems: * Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire * Barbarians Led by Bill Gates You really have to get past the title of second book. It's not really about bashing Microsoft or Gates but account of thirteen-year Microsoft veteran Marlin Eller that you perhaps never heard of. That makes this book all the more interesting and give real insight on how things were at lower levels in early days.