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Submission + - Windows 95 used three different operating systems during setup (techspot.com)

Submitted by jjslash
jjslash writes: Veteran Microsoft engineer Raymond Chen recently addressed a retro-tech question from a game developer on X. The developer asked about the three user interfaces in the Windows 95 setup process, transitioning from DOS to Windows 3.x and finally to the Win9x GUI. Chen explained this design minimized the code needed for the setup.

With over 30 years of experience shaping the evolution of Windows, Chen holds deep insights into the hidden intricacies of one of the worlds most widely used software platforms. Writing The Old New Thing blog, he said Windows 95 setup was designed to upgrade systems from three possible starting points – MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, and Windows 95 itself. This necessity dictated the need for compatibility with three distinct computing environments.

Submission + - WI Voters Were Unswayed by $3.3B AI Data Center Announcement by Microsoft, Biden

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Back in the day, one could influence voters for as little as $1 or with food or liquor. Today, however, even Microsoft's widely-publicized $3.3B Wisconsin AI Data Center announcement by U.S. President Joe Biden and Microsoft President Brad Smith (who Biden called out for helping his campaign just days later at a WA fundraiser) — at a politicized Racine County (WI) event last May where Biden slammed now President-elect Donald Trump for a failed Foxconn project on the same site — wasn't enough to convince Racine County voters to favor a Democrat for President in the 2024 election. Trump won 52.5% of the 100K or so Racine County votes compared to Vice President Kamala Harris's 46.3%, a one-point improvement over his performance there in 2020, en route to a victory in the swing state.

Interestingly, in his 2019 book Tools and Weapons, Microsoft's Smith — who supported the Harris campaign after Biden bowed out of the 2024 race — revealed that Microsoft led other tech giants who successfully used the promise of $300 million in pledges to support K-12 CS education to secure then First Daughter Ivanka Trump's assistance in persuading President Trump to sign a $1 billion Presidential order "to ensure that federal funding from the Department of Education helps advance [K-12] computer science," a key objective of the Microsoft-led Computing in the Core advocacy coalition and Microsoft's National Talent Strategy.

On the day after the Presidential election, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella joined other tech CEOs who took to social media to congratulate Trump on his victory. "Congratulations President Trump," Nadella tweeted. "We're looking forward to engaging with you and your administration to drive innovation forward that creates new growth and opportunity for the United States and the world."

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