This well-known Windows 11 feature has been using a temporary code for 30 years now

In a publication on the X.com network, a former programmer who worked on Windows revealed an astonishing anecdote about the tool dedicated to formatting, the “temporary” side of which ultimately lasted… 30 years!

Indeed, with regard to Windows, David Plummer is at the origin of various functionalities (hello Windows task manager!), including the vertical dialog box which is available to us when it comes to formatting a device, such as a hard drive or USB stick.

The Windows Format Tool has been temporary…since 1994!

And it is precisely this little formatting utility that we are talking about today. Indeed, on X.com, David Plummer indicated that the latter was put in place at the end of 1994, on a rainy Thursday morning, as a temporary solution. Ultimately, the tool was to have a complete overhaul, for a more accomplished style.

“ Formatting was one of the areas where Windows NT was different enough from Windows 95 that we had to create a custom user interface “, he explains. And if the tool put in place was supposed to be temporary, with its very basic vertical interface, it ultimately survived the years (and generations of Windows).

Even today, including on board the latest Windows 11, it is this same tool that is used by owners of a computer powered by Microsoft’s OS. So, of course, the functionalities have evolved, but the style has remained.

Source : Dave Plummer on X.com