Microsoft engineer explains what made Windows 7 take 30 seconds to show the desktop
A solid color should be the easiest thing for an operating system to render. Yet shortly after Windows 7 launched, choosing one caused the Welcome screen to hang for exactly 30 seconds. Veteran engineer Raymond Chen explained how a missing signal broke the logon process, and how users worked around it.
Microsoft engineer explains why Windows gives new files the date of ones you deleted
If you delete a file in Windows and quickly create another with the same name, the new file can inherit the old creation timestamp. It is not a bug—it is an intentional feature called File System Tunneling. Here is why Microsoft built it into NTFS and why safe saves depend on it.
Microsoft Azure CTO used AI to port 20-year-old Windows tool to macOS in two...
CTO of Microsoft Azure, says he used AI to bring ZoomIt, a Windows tool he has maintained for more than 20 years, to macOS.
Microsoft confirms it accidentally broke copy and paste in Excel with a major security...
On September 8, Microsoft rolled out KB5002914 for Excel, but it apparently has a bug that makes it impossible to copy and paste.
Microsoft confirms first major Windows event in two years, but don’t hold your breath...
Microsoft will host its first major Windows event in over two years on October 7. Joined by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, the company plans to showcase the Surface Laptop Ultra, RTX Spark silicon, and local AI agent capabilities in Windows 11. However, don't expect Windows 12 to make an appearance.
Microsoft tried to kill Paint in Windows for a successor nobody wanted, then killed...
Microsoft tried to retire MS Paint for Paint 3D in 2017, users pushed back, and Paint survived. Paint 3D didn't. Here's the full history, and why Microsoft should open-source what's left.
Microsoft engineer explains why 32-bit Windows was capped at 4GB RAM, and it wasn’t...
32-bit Windows is commonly said to max out at 4GB because of basic address math, but Microsoft had a way around that limit years before Windows 11 arrived, and chose not to use it on consumer PCs.
iPhone Duo’s photos could pass for Microsoft’s Surface Duo ads from 2020
Turns out, it isn't just the name that iPhone Duo copied from Surface Duo. Apple's keynote pitch, app pairing, and posture-aware software all trace back to research Microsoft did six years ago.
The foldable iPhone Duo is here, and it’s the Surface Duo Microsoft gave up...
Apple is unveiling the iPhone Duo today, but Microsoft got to a book-style foldable phone first with the Surface Duo, a device with excellent hardware let down by unfinished software and a company that lost interest too soon.
Microsoft revives Bill Gates’ “PC on every desk” promise for Windows 11, now it...
Decades after Bill Gates promised a PC on every desk, Microsoft is giving that vision a second act with "unmetered intelligence." Backed by RTX Spark and Project Zenith, the company wants Windows 11 PCs to run massive AI models locally without cloud latency or token fees. Here is what the shift means.
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