Windows 11 has a feature that hasn’t been updated in 30 years

Windows 11 is one of the most radical changes to the operating system since Windows 8. Microsoft wanted to leave the past behind by releasing a redesigned interface to improve the user experience. However, technology has not fully achieved this, and there is a feature that hasn’t been updated in 30 years.

Dave Plummer, a former Microsoft employee known for creating the Task Manager and other important Windows features, shared a joke on his X account. Plummer showed that The disk format function retains the original 1994 design.. The most surprising thing is that the dialog box, which shows parameters such as capacity, file system or volume label, This was a temporary solution.

“I wrote this conversation on a rainy Thursday morning at Microsoft in late 1994, and I think that’s what it was,” Plummer said. “I took a piece of paper and wrote down all the options and choices I could make regarding the disk format, such as file system, label, cluster size, compression, encryption, etc.”

A former Windows NT programmer mentions that he used Visual C++ 2.0 to create a vertical dialog box with all the options laid out. “It wasn’t elegant, but it won’t be until we get an elegant user interface,” he added. Curiously, this did not happen and Microsoft kept the design unchanged.

Windows Format Disk Dialog Box: one of the many operating system features that maintain a classic look. While some have criticized the lack of updates, the truth is that Plummer is proud of his work. “If it was something bad, I think they would have changed it already…” he replied to one of his subscribers who expressed dissatisfaction.

Why is Microsoft keeping old features in Windows 11?

Over the past months, Microsoft has removed some old features that were supported in Windows 11. Some of them, such as Explorer, have been redesigned to adapt to the new frameworkand others (WordPad) disappear because they are no longer used.

The Control Panel is a part of the past that many Microsoft users deny, but there are good reasons why it cannot be eliminated. Unlike macOS, Windows is installed on hundreds of millions of corporate and government computers.. Removing a feature or updating the design of a feature requires careful analysis of its impact.

Windows has become a victim of its own success and that’s why updates like Windows 8 or Windows 11, which include radical changes to the interface, are never merged. An example of this is the Windows 11 Start menu, which left the classic experience and became a clone of macOS. After criticism, Microsoft had no choice but to restore left alignment.

People who have been using Windows for a long time are accustomed to certain settings and ways of doing things. Removing a deprecated feature entirely may confuse these users. Microsoft can save them for Make the transition easier for people upgrading from previous versions. Windows.

He format disk dialog It hasn’t changed much in 30 years, and while it works, it comes with limitations. Its creator admitted that he limited the size of a FAT32 drive to 32 GB. random choice which remained a permanent side effect. The file system has nothing to do with NTFS or exFAT, however there are some legacy systems that require it.