3 ms·
The story of Windows 95 as a feat of software architecture is under-explored. This team made a wildly successful transition from a 16-bit, cooperatively multit
by twoodfin 3y ago
The story of Windows 95 as a feat of software architecture is under-explored.
This team made a wildly successful transition from a 16-bit, cooperatively multitasked, unprotected, DOS-extender OS to a 32-bit, preemptively multitasked, protected memory “real” OS while maintaining excellent DOS and Win16 compatibility—in three years.
It took Apple, working in a much smaller hardware and software ecosystem, at least a decade & a near-death experience to do much the same, and only via acquisition.
There’s a great book about the creation of NT, Showstopper. Its implementation has been explored extensively since the beginning in Microsoft Press’ own Inside Windows NT and Windows Internals books.
But the story of how Microsoft pulled off “Cougar” and “Panther” remains largely untold, AFAIK.
- teddyh 3y agoWindows/386 (a version of Windows 2.0) had preemptive multitasking in 1987.
- BirAdam 3y agoCovered in https://www.abortretry.fail/p/the-history-of-windows-20 https://www.abortretry.fail/p/the-history-of-windows-20
- teddyh 3y agoAnd discussed here: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37216455 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37216455>
- twoodfin 3y agoFor DOS programs only. Windows 95 was the first non-NT version where an errant Windows application couldn’t freeze the system by failing to yield.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- mistrial9 3y agothis is a mischaracterization of Apple OS development source: in the room at the time
- rasz 3y ago>to a 32-bit, preemptively multitasked, protected memory “real” OS while maintaining excellent DOS and Win16 compatibility—in three years. and only >10 years after competition! :)