Instead of 'flying cars and moon stations' in 2026, we still have Windows 11 using '90s code, admits Mark Russinovich.
  • MolochAlter@lemmy.worldEnglish
    17·
    7 hours ago

    Hell, it might be the last reliable piece they have left, I’m fine with them not vibe coding that out of the codebase.

  • Doom@lemmy.worldEnglish
    101·
    10 hours ago

    Oh boy, wait until you hear about an ancient little sweetheart named COBOL.

  • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.auEnglish
    121·
    14 hours ago

    And? Maybe there’s a reason that code is still around? Maybe it’s because it’s good code that is solid as a rock?

  • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.netEnglish
    371·
    18 hours ago

    I have less of a problem with this than the “constant update” model all software companies seem to subscribe to these days. We don’t need new features, we need bug fixes.

    • glitch1985@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      8 hours ago

      Isstill can’t figure out why discord has a new update every other day. I’ve never seen software this needy before.

      • Evotech@lemmy.worldEnglish
        41·
        8 hours ago

        Well it’s just s different approach in how you deliver updates. Update as you go or save up updates and publish once a month like ms

    • Oisteink@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      16 hours ago

      It’s the forced online login that wercks it. I now suggest linux.

      We’d use a lot more windows if it wasnt so locked up in marketing

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.caEnglish
      10·
      16 hours ago

      That’s a protocol, not a software library

      TCP does what it does pretty well, no need for replacing that which works fine

      • The_Decryptor@aussie.zoneEnglish
        2·
        6 hours ago

        Ehh, TCP has issues with mobile connectivity and is designed around the idea that 1 logical application stream should map to 1 TCP connection, which causes issues.

        But that’s why we’ve got QUIC now.

        Other than that though, TCP is fine. If all you need is simple in-order delivery of a stream of bytes it’s hard to beat.

      • zr0@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        26·
        16 hours ago

        And tell me again exactly what the difference is between a protocol and an api, when both are using software that has not been changed for decades? Just curious.

        Besides that, TCP/IP is the worst thing ever for a large network and it only gets worse by the day.

  • truthfultemporarily@feddit.orgEnglish
    733·
    22 hours ago

    Seems like good code then? Old code is stable and bug free and we should keep using the boring stuff as long as possible.

    • howrar@lemmy.caEnglish
      7·
      8 hours ago

      It seems more likely to me that any bugs present in that code just became features that old software relied upon over time, so they can’t change anything without breaking backward compatibility.

      So I guess, in a sense, it’s bug-free.

  • Corporal_Punishment@feddit.ukEnglish
    591·
    22 hours ago

    Most mobile devices use ARM processors, a tech developed by Acorn in the early 1980s.

    Old doesnt mean bad. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

    • 0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      1·
      7 minutes ago

      If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

      Sure, If there are no better alternatives and competition.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
      16·
      21 hours ago

      Had a friend in college who was redoing nuclear decay calculations written in Fortran so they’d work as C++/C# libraries. The calculations had been a historical standby for decades, and people were coming up with increasingly elaborate daisy-chains of dependencies to get them to work properly in modern environments.

      There’s definitely a point at which the physical hardware and modern network/interfaces need you to catch up your code with the current technology. But there’s also this terror around trying to touch code that’s got an archaic datestamp on it, particularly if you’re working in a language or dealing with a particularly baroque procedure where the guy who wrote it retired 20 years ago.

      Old doesnt mean bad.

      Unreviewed Code is bad code unless proven otherwise. Maybe that latest iteration really is time tested and bulletproof. Or maybe Microsoft Execs simply won’t allocate time/money to the kind of routine review and maintenance a codebase needs from time to time.

        • papalonian@lemmy.worldEnglish
          21·
          12 hours ago

          “I converted my studio into a 3 story mansion and the foundation sunk into the ground. The foundation is still solid, it’s just the 3 story mansion that’s the problem.”

          A foundation that can no longer support what it needs to support is not a good foundation and should be replaced

          • NoForwadSlashS@piefed.socialEnglish
            1·
            1 hour ago

            A better analogy would be that the mansion fell down but the foundation is still standing. Because the foundation is the solid part.

  • Th4tGuyII@fedia.io
    151·
    22 hours ago

    With the way Microslop has been putting out code lately, I don’t think I’d actually want them to try replacing Win32 either.

    It works stably and soundly, and I can only imagine any replacement would be riddled with bugs.

  • brucethemoose@lemmy.worldEnglish
    152·
    22 hours ago

    Well, it does work.

    My prediction is Win32 will live on as THE “standard gaming/graphics API” in… linux. Through Wine/Proton.

  • slazer2au@lemmy.worldEnglish
    155·
    23 hours ago

    Really?? Colour me shocked that a company known for its bloated OS still needs stuff from the 90s to work…

    At least there is no FORTRAN in Windows or we will all be screwed.