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The Latest Breaking News from Raymond Chen

Windows used to secretly use green screens to render videos, which is how you could trick MS Paint into becoming a video player

Video playback on old computers was a whole lot of smoke and mirrors.

PC Gamer

The 'worst-selling Microsoft product of all time' sold just 11 times, and eight people returned it — why you've never heard of OS/2 for the Mach 20

A specialized version of the ill-fated OS/2 holds the dubious record, and probably will forever.

Tom’s Hardware

My new favorite deep Windows lore: Microsoft once broke its Bluetooth driver code by sticking a ® symbol in the name of its own mouse

Never let your legal department write driver code!

PC Gamer

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The day Windows 98 crashed live — and Bill Gates built a secret lab to make sure it never happened again

Microsoft was so embarrassed by the Windows 98 demo crash that it built a dedicated testing room in its Production Studios facility to prevent future public failures.

Windows Central

Storied Windows dev reminisces about Microsoft's first hardware product 45 years ago — the Z-80 SoftCard was an Apple II add-in card

Raymond Chen has shared some insight into the development of Microsoft’s first hardware product, the Z-80 SoftCard, from 1980.

Tom’s Hardware

I just learned that before the internet, 'online' actually meant 'offline' and it's turned my world upside down

Back in the '80s, "up" meant "online" BUT THERE WAS ALSO "ON-LINE!!!"

PC Gamer

Microsoft was apparently so embarrassed by Windows 98's infamous on-stage Blue Screen of Death it built a new testing room on campus to ensure it would never happen again

Talk about a powerful faux pas.

PC Gamer

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Windows 95 icons still exist in Windows 11 today as dusty old relics from another time – here's where to find them

Nostalgic for Windows 95? Believe it or not, you can still find icons from the dusty old OS kicking about in Windows 11.

TechRadar

The ingenious reason why Windows 95 setup chose mini Windows 3.1 over 32-bit options

Microsoft veteran engineer Raymond Chen recently explained why the tech giant Windows 95's setup didn't install a miniature Windows 95, allowing it to be written as a 32-bit program.

Windows Central

Veteran Microsoft engineer explains how WinHelp was "online" — despite Windows 3.0 predating the Internet

Microsoft Veteran Engineer Raymond Chen recently published an interesting blog post explaining why Windows 3.0’s WinHelp was called an online help system when it actually ran offline.

Windows Central

Why 3D Pinball for Windows could hit 5,000 FPS — sort of

A bug in 3D Pinball for Windows let the game run at 5,000 FPS on faster hardware, but Microsoft eventually capped the frame rate to 100 FPS.

Windows Central

Why Windows 95 laptops skipped a key power-saving feature, and how it was 'too risky'

Veteran Microsoft engineer Raymond Chen explains why Windows 95 intentionally excluded a power-saving instruction, fearing it would 'brick' too many laptops.

Windows Central

Former MS engineer Dave Plummer admits he accidentally coded Pinball to run 'at like, 5,000 frames per second' on Windows NT

One whole core for pinball duties.

PC Gamer

Microsoft Engineer Unveils Mystery Behind Windows' Blank Shutdown Blocker

Microsoft veteran Raymond Chen recently revealed the whole concept behind the secretive window with no name blocking Windows shutdown in his ongoing Old New Thing series.

Windows Central

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Windows Central

Microsoft’s Windows 95 testing phase was so intense that it crashed cash registers with over $10,000 worth of software

Microsoft tested Windows 95's compatibility by buying every PC program in the Egghead Software store, crashing its register with over a $10,000 purchase.

PC Gamer

Windows pack-in classic Space Cadet Pinball has been unofficially ported to Android devices—and it's free

I can hear that nostalgic pinball table revving now.

Windows Central

Windows 7 would boot much slower if you used specific wallpapers — A veteran Microsoft engineer links the bug to a "simple programming error"

A veteran Microsoft engineer recently described how Windows 7 took longer to load when users selected certain desktop wallpapers due to a simple programming error.

PC Gamer

Turns out that the earliest versions of Windows 7 took longer to load depending on your choice of desktop wallpaper

It wasn't just you left staring at the Welcome screen for 30 seconds.

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PC Gamer

Turns out Janet Jackson's laptop-crashing cursed bassline was the scourge of notebook makers for at least half a decade

No struggle, no progress.

Tom’s Hardware

Janet Jackson's 'Rhythm Nation' would still be crashing hard drives without this audio processing filter

An audio filter introduced in Windows XP is still around to protect your PC today from Janet Jackson.

Tom’s Hardware

Windows 7 users with a solid background color faced delayed login process — it took four months for Microsoft to fix

User thriftiness with system resources backfired, for a while.

Windows Central

Windows Phone 'revived,' Windows 95 in the news, and Halo back on TV? Did someone invent a time machine?

Windows Phone, Windows 95, and the Halo TV series filled this week's headlines. We also got the chance to discuss Microsoft's shifting Surface lineup.

Windows Central

After 29 years, a veteran Microsoft Engineer admits "MS-DOS could do graphics," but the company opted for a lackluster UI — as Windows 3.1 runtime already checked the missing boxes

Veteran Microsoft Engineer Raymond Chen reveals why Microsoft decided to make Windows 95 setups so simple instead of using more graphics.

Windows Central

Microsoft dev says Steve Ballmer didn't write the text for the Blue Screen of Death: "There are three different blue-colored screens, and each has a different author"

Microsoft Developer Raymond Chen explains how the Blue Screen of Death error came to be by highlighting the three types written by different authors.

Tom’s Hardware

Microsoft dev shares story behind iconic Windows screensavers — 3D Pipes, 3D Maze, and more

Windows NT screensavers, including the most popular, get their origin story explained by Raymond Chen.

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