Microsoft Ex-employee Reveals 'format Dialog Box' Was Supposed To Be A Temporary Fix

(RTTNews) - Dave Plummer, a highly skilled programmer who worked at Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), recently shared an interesting story about the development of the Format dialog box on his X account.

Back in 1994, Plummer and his team were busy transferring the code from the Windows 95 graphical user interface to the unreleased Windows NT 4.0. This process was quite challenging and involved making numerous changes that required a redesign of the Format dialog box's user interface. To accomplish this, Plummer sketched out a list of essential features on paper and used the Resource Editor in VC++2.0 to create a basic prototype.

The resulting design was not intended to be visually appealing and was considered only a temporary solution until a more refined interface was developed. However, what's interesting is that nearly three decades later, Windows users are still waiting for the promised elegant UI. Even the latest Windows 11 preview builds retain the same outdated design as before.

Despite numerous updates to the Windows user interface, Microsoft has not made any alterations to the Format dialog box since its inception in the Windows NT version years ago. Although many changes have occurred since then, elements such as system files like the kernel still retain the "Windows NT" branding in Windows 11. This lack of improvement is somewhat surprising, especially given the rapid pace of technological advancements in the industry. Nevertheless, the Format dialog box remains a functional and essential part of the Windows operating system.