4 ms·
I don't know who specifically invented file extensions, but Raymond Chen's The Old New Thing has some good insight into why they are important on Windows. Edit:
by daveslash 3y ago
I don't know who specifically invented file extensions, but Raymond Chen's The Old New Thing has some good insight into why they are important on Windows. Edit: In summary, it is to be able to support Tape based drives and avoid opening a file "unless a user tells you to".
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32811707 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32811707
- tpmx 3y agoJust to be clear: Bill Gates and Microsoft weren't anywhere near inventing this. They bought what was mostly a clone of CP/M and called it PC-DOS/MS-DOS. That's where they got the file extension scheme from. Digital Research (the creators of CP/M) also didn't invent this. For more details, see the stackexchange link.
- gilcot 3y agoThe poorly written clone was QDOS (for quick and dirty)