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Windows Longhorn, Cairo, and More: Dave Cutler and the History of Windows
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The Mind Behind Windows: Dave Cutler
Dave's Garage
1.1M subscribers • 9 videos on Hallway
- Recommended by 5 people: 4 on Hacker News and 1 on Lobsters.
- Presented by Dave Cutler, operating system designer and architect
Intermediate. Assumes working knowledge.
1M views3 years ago5 recommendations
Systems programmingHistory and cultureOperating systemsHistory of computingInside tech companies
Dave Cutler discusses his career, the design of VMS and Windows NT, and his engineering philosophy in a three-hour interview.
Dave Cutler, the designer and architect of Windows, RSX11m, and VMS. For information on my book on Autism and ASD: amzn.to/45ZzcFW Dave Cutler is a seminal figure in computer science, renowned for his contributions to operating systems. Born in 1942, he played pivotal roles in the development of several OSes, most notably VMS for Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and Windows NT for Microsoft. Cutler's design principles emphasize performance, reliability, and scalability. His work on Windows NT laid the foundation for many subsequent Windows versions, solidifying its place in enterprise and personal computing. A stickler for detail and a rigorous engineer, Cutler's influence is evident in modern OS design and architecture. He's a recipient of the Computer History Museum's Fellow Award for his unparalleled contributions. If someone wants to add chapter markers, please post them in the comments and I'll add them to the video!Why it's here
5 people recommend thisWhat people say. Recommended as a great, comprehensive interview covering the history of Windows NT, VMS, and Cutler's engineering principles.
vetinarion Hacker News • Recommends
On “Ubuntu: ~20% More Performance Than Windows 11 on New AMD Zen 4 Threadripper”
Because the userspace, old and baroque it is, is the compatibility layer for the existing apps. Not the kernel. The kernel is a very nice piece of work, but it come from slightly different assumptions, than the reality turned out to need. Btw, the recent Dave Cutler interview ( link to this video ) is great. Worth the 3 hours it takes.
drewg123on Hacker News • Recommends
On “Windows NT: Peeking into the Cradle”
That's not his channel, its a different Dave. However, there is an excellent 3 hour long interview with Dave Cutler on that channel. link to this video
wil421on Hacker News • Recommends
On “Preview edition of Microsoft OS/2 2.0 sold on eBay”
There’s a fantastic interview on YouTube with Dave Cutler. It’s 3 hours long but there are a few 10 minute highlight clips on the same channel. link to this video
progmetaldevon Hacker News • Recommends
On “How Big Is VMS?”
His series on YouTube, Dave's Garage, has really helped me to conceptualize Operating Systems in the past that I used, but didn't really fully understand. I started with Atari DOS, but moved to the 286 roughly around the time it started to become popular, along with MS-DOS. I'm 45 now, so didn't think about things as deeply back then, as far as constraints and why things may have been built the way they were. I think his series really does a great job at looking into both technology and company politics (especially his time at Microsoft). link to this video
rifkiamilon Hacker News • Mentions
On “Dave Cutler: The Secret History of Microsoft Windows [video]”
Was the origin of 'NT' in 'Windows NT' really New Technology? Some suggest that the name might have originated from the Intel i860 CPU. Originally, NT was targeted at the Intel i860 CPU, codenamed N10 (or "N-Ten"). Dave Cutler's put to rest that it was 'New Technology' link to this video
BSDobelixon Hacker News • Mentions
On “OpenVMS Account at DECUServe”
If you haven't already seen it some story's from Andy Goldstein1. The quality of OpenVMS is really something else, also repeated from Dave Cutler2. 1 link 2 link to this video
jbverschooron Hacker News • Mentions
On “Whisky: Wine Supercharged with the Power of Apple's Game Porting Toolkit”
Check out this interview with Dave Cutler by Dave Plummer: link to this video (from 02:03:00) Oh, and if someone can lipread, the audio mutes at 02:06:55 :-)
webdevveron Hacker News • Mentions
On “F/OSS Comics: 8. The Origins of Unix and the C Language”
judging from how i've read other people describe him, Dave Cutler's personality seems antithecal to memoirs or biographies, from what I've read he seems to be very much like John Carmack in his total lack of sentimentality. Thankfully some enterprising people have managed to get him to sit infront of a camera, but its pretty light on the nitty gritty technical aspects: - Computer history museum interview: link - David Plummer's interview: link to this video
nullindividualon Hacker News • Mentions
On “CrowdStrike Update: Windows Bluescreen and Boot Loops”
Here's a direct link: link to this video "New Technology", if you want to search the transcript. Per Dave, marketing did not want to use "NT" for "New Technology" because they thought no one would buy new technology.
Keyframeon Hacker News • Mentions
On “Bill Gates's Personal Easter Eggs in 8 Bit BASIC (2008)”
What's interesting is that Cutler said in an interview that initially he talked to Gates but wasn't interested until Ballmer swayed him in. with a few minutes of pretext: link to this video
pjmlpon Hacker News • Mentions
On “Windows 11's Patch Tuesday nightmare gets worse”
On his garage interview, he mentioned nowadays having fun with XBox Cloud hardware running Azure Linux. link to this video
pjmlpon Hacker News • Mentions
On “How do functions like alloca allocate memory from the stack?”
I have read that, yeah it also shows a lot how things changed. As per his interview on Dave's Garage, besides being of an age where he really doesn't need to work, at the time he was involved on getting Linux running on XBox on Azure, apparently Microsoft uses idle consoles from XBox Cloud for AI. link to this video