Microsoft History Books

The cluster centers on recommendations and discussions of books about Microsoft's early history, particularly the development of Windows NT as detailed in 'Showstopper!' by G. Pascal Zachary, along with titles like 'Hard Drive' and 'Renegades of the Empire'. Users share links, personal experiences, and praise for these accounts of key figures like Dave Cutler and Bill Gates.

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20
Years Active
5
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#6438
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Activity Over Time

2007
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2008
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2009
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2010
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2011
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2012
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2013
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2014
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2015
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2016
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2017
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2018
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2019
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2020
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2021
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2022
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2023
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2024
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Keywords

MS G.P goodreads.com product.aspx ASM rose.h storiesofapple.net PC UNIX informit.com nt windows nt microsoft windows book race generation books gates pascal

Sample Comments

blackbeard334 Oct 27, 2016 View on HN

This fantastic book talks extensively about it.https://www.amazon.com/Renegades-Empire-Software-Revolution-...

WalterBright Oct 7, 2021 View on HN

You'd probably enjoy the book "Renegades of the Empire" by Drummond.https://www.amazon.com/Renegades-Empire-Software-Revolution-...

jmmv Oct 22, 2023 View on HN

I’ll recommend here the book “Showstopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft”, which someone else recommended a few weeks ago. Link:I’m still reading it, but it’s really enjoyable. And it makes me wish I had been part of that history. Particularly the whole thing about dogfooding a brand new OS. But it caught me a few years too early.

EvanAnderson Apr 2, 2023 View on HN

Since "Soul of a New Machine" and "Hackers" were already mentioned I'll throw out two that I really enjoyed."Showstopper! The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft", Zachary, G. Pascal, https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1416925"Dealers of Lightning: XEROX-PARC and the Dawn of t

jmmv Nov 27, 2023 View on HN

Original author here.Back in September, I got the recommendation to read the "Showstopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft" book from some other comment thread here in HN. I don't exactly remember which thread that was though... but learning about the history of Windows NT sounded interesting, so I bought the book right away and have been slowly reading through it over the last three months.The story in the book seemed so excitin

Sean-Der Apr 17, 2024 View on HN

The book 'Show Stopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft' is a really great read on Dave Cutler.I would love more 'tech origin stories'. Next I am planning to read 'Soul of a new machine'. Another one I enjoyed was 'Open: How Compaq Ended IBM's PC Domination and Helped Invent Modern Computing'

bake Dec 18, 2019 View on HN

It's out of print now, but "Hard Drive" by James Wallace and Jim Erickson tells it: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Drive-Making-Microsoft-Empire/dp...

EamonnMR Jul 31, 2018 View on HN

For a detailed account, there's always _Show Stopper!_ by G. Pascal Zachary which is a shot at writing a _Soul of the new Machine_ style book about Microsoft during the creation of NT. If that sort of story entertains you, I recommend it.

lobster_johnson Dec 23, 2017 View on HN

"Showstopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsof" by G. Pascal Zachary is great, about an interesting period of Microsoft's life.

pjmorris Feb 6, 2014 View on HN

Three I'm familiar with, all recommended:'Gates', Stephen Manes [1]'Show Stopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft', G.P. Zachary [2]'Microsoft in the Mirror', Karin Carter [3]But I agree with the parent that 'Programmers At Work' is a great book.[1] http://www.amazon.com/G