HackerTube
HomeLongsLikedHistoryWatch laterCategoriesPlaylistsSettings

The Mind Behind Windows: Dave Cutler

Dave's Garage4 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2023-2026
YouTube
1M views · 3 years ago · interview · evergreen

Dave Plummer interviews Dave Cutler, architect of VMS and Windows NT, in a roughly three-hour conversation about his career and the history of Windows.

Recommended as a long, excellent first-hand interview with a legendary OS designer, though some note it is light on technical detail.

Operating systems & kernelsTech pioneers & interviewsHistory of computing#davecutler#windowsnt#vms#operatingsystems#microsoft

12 comments from Hacker News

@pjmlp2026 · in “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. ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
@pjmlp2026 · in “Windows 11's Patch Tuesday nightmare gets worse”

On his garage interview, he mentioned nowadays having fun with XBox Cloud hardware running Azure Linux. ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
@Keyframe2025 · in “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: ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
@progmetaldev2025 · in “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). ▶ this video

RecommendsView on HN
@nullindividual2024 · in “CrowdStrike Update: Windows Bluescreen and Boot Loops”

Here's a direct link: ▶ 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.

CitesView on HN
@webdevver2024 · in “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: ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
@wil4212024 · in “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. ▶ this video

RecommendsView on HN
@drewg1232023 · in “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. ▶ this video

RecommendsView on HN
@jbverschoor2023 · in “Whisky: Wine Supercharged with the Power of Apple's Game Porting Toolkit”

Check out this interview with Dave Cutler by Dave Plummer: ▶ this video (from 02:03:00) Oh, and if someone can lipread, the audio mutes at 02:06:55 :-)

CitesView on HN
@vetinari2023 · in “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 ( ▶ this video ) is great. Worth the 3 hours it takes.

Strongly recommendsView on HN
@BSDobelix2023 · in “OpenVMS Account at DECUServe”

If you haven't already seen it some story's from Andy Goldstein[1]. The quality of OpenVMS is really something else, also repeated from Dave Cutler[2]. [1] link [2] ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
@rifkiamil2023 · in “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' ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
Oral History of Dave Cutler Part 11:44:36

Oral History of Dave Cutler Part 1

Computer History Museum
33K views • 8 years ago
NeWS: A Networked and Extensible Window System, lecture by James Gosling49:39

NeWS: A Networked and Extensible Window System, lecture by James Gosling

Computer History Museum
5K views • 10 years ago
VCF East: Ken Thompson interviewed by Brian Kernighan1:03:51

VCF East: Ken Thompson interviewed by Brian Kernighan

Vintage Computer Federation
417K views • 7 years ago
The History of Unix, Rob Pike1:00:38

The History of Unix, Rob Pike

Stephanie Borgman
120K views • 8 years ago
Ted Nelson's Eulogy for Douglas Engelbart7:26

Ted Nelson's Eulogy for Douglas Engelbart

Computer History Museum
17K views • 12 years ago
Ted Nelson struggles with uncomprehending radio interviewer, 197925:48

Ted Nelson struggles with uncomprehending radio interviewer, 1979

TheTedNelson
19K views • 9 years ago
A Narrative History of BSD, Dr. Kirk McKusick53:55

A Narrative History of BSD, Dr. Kirk McKusick

bsdconferences
30K views • 17 years ago
Oral History of Gary Davidian, part 2 of 22:55:13

Oral History of Gary Davidian, part 2 of 2

Computer History Museum
2K views • 7 years ago
Oral History of John Backus1:27:31

Oral History of John Backus

Computer History Museum
18K views • 13 years ago
Oral History of Donald Knuth Part 13:07:26

Oral History of Donald Knuth Part 1

Computer History Museum
15K views • 7 years ago
Oral History of Steve Naroff Part 1, Session 12:30:46

Oral History of Steve Naroff Part 1, Session 1

Computer History Museum
3K views • 7 years ago
Douglas Engelbart Interviewed by John Markoff of the New York Times1:13:51

Douglas Engelbart Interviewed by John Markoff of the New York Times

Computer History Museum
14K views • 13 years ago
Plan 9: Not dead, Just Resting, by Ori Bernstein1:17:07

Plan 9: Not dead, Just Resting, by Ori Bernstein

BSDTV
42K views • 7 years ago
Windows "SUCKS": How I'd Fix it by a retired Microsoft Windows engineer16:09

Windows "SUCKS": How I'd Fix it by a retired Microsoft Windows engineer

Dave's Garage
578K views • 1 year ago
Steve Jobs   The Lost Interview1:12:20

Steve Jobs The Lost Interview

Steve Jobs
281K views • 9 years ago
Bill Gates demonstrates Visual Basic (1991)3:00

Bill Gates demonstrates Visual Basic (1991)

Crapkai
2.1M views • 10 years ago
Avie Tevanian: CMU math whiz goes from Mach to NeXT to Apple Software Chief | Oral History Part 12:31:38

Avie Tevanian: CMU math whiz goes from Mach to NeXT to Apple Software Chief | Oral History Part 1

Computer History Museum
49K views • 9 years ago
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Together at D5 Conference 20071:29:34

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Together at D5 Conference 2007

BrioWeb Agenzia di marketing e comunicazione
2.2M views • 13 years ago
A History of The ARM Microprocessor | Dave Jaggar | Talks at Google1:02:28

A History of The ARM Microprocessor | Dave Jaggar | Talks at Google

Talks at Google
22K views • 7 years ago
Macworld San Francisco 2000-The Mac OS X Introduction (Pt.1)9:35

Macworld San Francisco 2000-The Mac OS X Introduction (Pt.1)

JoshuaG
787K views • 20 years ago