Windows nt articles

microsoft windows windows 95 windows nt gui raymond chen dave plummer

Microsoft Software

Porting the Windows 95 interface to Windows NT was a complex back-and-forth process

Computing history: Raymond Chen is once again reminding us that back when Windows 95 ruled the software world, coding was a completely different beast. The Win9x user interface eventually made its way to the Windows NT world, but getting it there took some effort – and a few clever tricks.

Full story By Alfonso Maruccia, October 30, 2025, 4:36 PM 11 comments

blue screen death windows bsod windows 95 kernel panic windows 3.1 windows nt raymond chen

Tech Culture Microsoft

Who wrote the BSOD screen? Former Windows developer finally has an answer

It turns out that it was more than one person

By Zo Ahmed, August 3, 2024, 12:26 PM

windows start menu windows nt

Software Microsoft

Windows developer shares origin story of the iconic NT Start Menu banner

Remember that blue-to-black gradient? Here's how it came to be

In context: If you were a Windows user in the '90s, you're likely to be intimately familiar with the iconic Start Menu that shipped with Windows NT. That signature vertical banner proclaiming "Windows NT Workstation," or whichever variant you were running, is an image seared into the minds of many PC users from the era, and we have programmer Dave Plummer to thank for bringing the branding element to life.

Full story By Zo Ahmed, July 18, 2024, 10:23 AM