The Mind Behind Windows: Dave Cutler
Why Hacker News recommends it
Recommended as a long, excellent first-hand interview with a legendary OS designer, though some note it is light on technical detail.
What it is
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 by 4 HN commenters across 3 different months, 2023 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec vetinari · 2023-11 · on “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.
Recommends drewg123 · 2023-11 · on “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]
Recommends wil421 · 2024-02 · on “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]
Recommends progmetaldev · 2025-04 · on “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]
Cites rifkiamil · 2023-10 · on “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]
Cites BSDobelix · 2023-11 · on “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]
Cites jbverschoor · 2023-11 · on “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 :-)
Cites webdevver · 2024-04 · on “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]