Reddit Reddit reviews Show Stopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft

We found 11 Reddit comments about Show Stopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Show Stopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft
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11 Reddit comments about Show Stopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft:

u/trentnelson · 21 pointsr/programming

Keep plugging along. I've been working professionally for about 16 years and made a concerted effort to double-down with some renewed assembly awareness the past few months. This past weekend I was able to write something using AVX2 intrinsics that took normal pointer-chasing C code that would run in hundreds of microseconds into, literally, ~20 nanoseconds.

There's a great quote in Show Stopper!, where this new guy who was incredibly talented had a bug in his assembly... Dave Cutler came in... didn't know anything about the domain (it was some low-level graphics stuff), and re-wrote the assembly with him. The guy remarked later when describing the event: "He is the best assembly programmer I've ever seen."

That's what I'd like to aspire to.

u/bobj33 · 3 pointsr/linux

Microsoft and IBM started out developing OS/2 together but Microsoft hired Dave Cutler to design their own OS which became Windows NT. Lots of backstabbing political stuff between IBM and Microsoft. If anything Windows NT is based on DEC's VMS OS which Cutler also helped design. There is more about the history in this book.

https://www.amazon.com/Show-Stopper-Breakneck-Generation-Microsoft/dp/0029356717

u/tehvlad · 2 pointsr/askscience

I strongly suggest you to read Show Stopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft


Then you might get a glimpse of what represents to make a new OS.

u/Koutou · 2 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

Cutler start working on NT 3.1 in 1988 from scratch. Years before Win95 was even on the radar.

Here a book for you. http://www.amazon.com/Show-Stopper-Breakneck-Generation-Microsoft/dp/0029356717

u/halspuppet · 2 pointsr/sysadmin

Not Brent here. If I had the inclination to keep an office library the book Show Stopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft would be in it. A very interesting read even today.

u/Tangurena · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

I was reading Show Stopper over the weekend. One of the chapters was getting into NTFS (the file system). The reason for "saving all this stuff" was that things were intended to save files twice. That way if there were a crash or power outage (or something that didn't involve damage to the hard drive), the data could be restored to the last known good state.

Previously, in DOS, to save time deleting files, they just changed the first character in the file allocation table (roughly a dictionary that told where the files were). Deleting a file didn't delete the file, just changed one character and the operating system used that as "space is now available". Deleting a large file might take minutes if you have to zero out every block on the hard drive. Changing the first character to the special "I'm deleted" character takes milliseconds. In court cases, the forensic folks are going to use these quirks to see when files were created, or deleted and maybe what was in the file.

Many programs are also sloppy in how they store temporary data on the hard drive, and many don't properly delete those temp files when you exit the program. These temp files can also be used to testify against you in court.

u/coder21 · 2 pointsr/programming

You probably all know it, but there's an interesting book on the history of NT development:

Show Stopper!

http://www.amazon.com/Show-Stopper-Breakneck-Generation-Microsoft/dp/0029356717/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219747784&sr=8-7

u/Donnadre · 1 pointr/todayilearned

Not to one up it, but there's an amazing story of one of the creators of the first "serious" version of Microsoft Windows.

At that time, whenever a programmer solved a tough problem, they were allowed to go work on whatever they wanted for awhile. This programmer created a Windows game (can't remember the name, I think it was about tiles or something?) and became deeply immersed in his own game. At the same time, Microsoft employees were becoming millionaires through the stock value so he lost motivation and just did the game 24x7. Even though he was a brilliant part of creating Windows, they had to sack him... but kept the game.

Here's the book where you can read about this an many other riveting stories.

u/gwak · 1 pointr/CGPGrey

Showstoppers by Pascal Zachary

https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0029356717/codihorr-20

A book about the personalities that created Windows NT. I thought it would be a dry read but I found it a fascinating peek under the covers of early Microsoft.

Amazon description

Showstopper! is a vivid account of the creation of Microsoft Windows NT, perhaps the most complex software project ever undertaken. It is also a portrait of David Cutler, NT's brilliant and, at times, brutally aggressive chief architect.

u/mistral7 · 1 pointr/startups

There is an excellent book titled Showstopper about the creation of Windows NT. Obviously it's quite dated now however the work is very revealing documenting the enormous task of crafting a new OS.

u/itd00d · -2 pointsr/Windows10

Read Showstopper, about Windows NT's creation. I guarantee you MS never worked that hard after that. https://www.amazon.com/Show-Stopper-Breakneck-Generation-Microsoft/dp/0029356717