Windows Tales: Task Manager, Pinball, ZIPFolders, and More!

[@OsX86H3AvY]

Man I could just listen to your stories for hours, really....I'm glad you decided to take that leap into KZbin and outta your comfort zone, it helps me understand a tiny bit more of the industry with each video

[@franklin.s.werren]

I agree wholeheartedly!!! And being in computers and using computers since the Commodore Vic 20 and getting real good at hardware up and including today. My biggest complaint is the damn cellphones, you cannot change batteries like you could 20 years ago. Well, Dave has done himself a good job. And yes I am on the Spectrum!!!😅😅😅😅😅😅 DE N2JYG

[@DavesGarage]

Thanks, I really appreciate hearing that!

[@layton3503]

Yes - this video is time well spent!

[@synaestesia-bg3ew]

​@@DavesGarageYou look way too manly to be a coder nowadays 😂

[@Bozebo]

@@franklin.s.werren You can change the battery in a Fairphone :) It's a bit chunky though.

[@Pilostudio]

Thank you CrowdStrike for making me find Dave and these wonderful stories. 😊

[@johnnyziemer5561]

I liked hearing about your programming, it was very much like my own. I'm a 84 year old retired "Senior Software Engineer".

[@Ndude215]

Awesome! I’m sure you have some amazing stories too!

[@jamesocker5235]

As a lifetime electronics tech, the technical career is very under rated, and when techs get together the stories told can be quite fascinating. Thanks

[@cristiadatasystems2960]

thank you sir. it's folks like you that kept me in the IT field.. you / we all were / are always willing to share. 2 fingers.

[@bubbacomputer]

Dave, as somebody who's been working with/on computers for 40+ years, hearing these stories are pure gold. Many of the things I've wondered about over the years are now being told on your channel in a way that is immensely interesting and entertaining (and I'm learning many new things too). I'm glad I found your channel, thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge and experiences with the rest of the world!

[@DavesGarage]

Thanks, glad they're useful and/or entertaining!

[@l-l]

As someone who just got diagnosed as autistic and is questioning their cybersecurity major. You’ve been a really big inspiration for me to push forward with my major. Thank you Dave.

[@ciscornBIG]

Keep going!!

[@smada36]

The lesson here is to take every opportunity that comes your way and not let your fears or doubts hold you back. Even if you make a complete mess of things, you'll still walk away with a great story. Thank you for sharing, sir.

[@seg_fault_jim]

Dave you need to do an unabridged audio book version of this story and your career. This is pure gold for any developer, I'm sure it would be very successful!

[@bubbavonbraun]

Dave, yes I have run allot of your code I wanted to take a moment to express my appreciation for the impact your code has had on my 45+ year career. As I near the end of this chapter, I've found immense joy in retracing the steps of history, reminiscing about the days when I first started crafting inventory systems and games for TRS-80 computers in the late 70s. Your content consistently brings a smile to my face and serves as a poignant reminder that every day is an opportunity for new adventures and discoveries. Thank you for your ongoing dedication and please know that your work continues to inspire and uplift.

[@DavesGarage]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@gotbordercollies]

I wish I had said that! I agree with all your comments!

[@MihaiRaducan]

Amazing , these are computer history and life stories at their best. Thank you!

[@dcc1165]

YES! There IS a healthy audience for "retro shenanigans". I'd love to see the IMSAI and Altair up and running. That's one of the major reasons I subscribe to this channel...the anecdotes from Microsoft are very fascinating, but the deep-dive content you do is even more fascinating -- be it retro computing or modern IoT stuff, this is the reason I love the channel. Please keep up this excellent content!

[@hfog]

Hey Dave. Thanks for sharing your story. I can totally relate to your story as a lot of it sounds like a (much more successful) version of my own. Like you, I was that kid tinkering with early home computers, making my own video games who somehow lucked into a job a Microsoft. I worked for Microsoft from 1990 to 2009 and I'm pretty sure I remember briefly crossing paths with you at some point. Like you, I also have some code in DOS, Windows and Windows NT (although nothing so cool or impressive as yours). I also worked on some early Xbox games and Office. All during that time I had a number of side hustles as well. So I can totally relate but I have to say that you were far more successful at it all than I ever was! Thanks again for another entertaining video!

[@demolazer]

My father is a similar age to Dave, he's been in software for 35 years. He described a similar story of being asked to make a data warehouse in the early 90s at a major phone company while working as a junior programmer. He replied yes of course I can do that, when asked if he could build a data warehouse. Never even looked at a database engine before. No google, few books, etc. They just wrote raw psql manually doing literally everything themselves. Now he's a senior architect in the finance space, and as a young developer myself his knowledge of databases and SQL that blows my god damn mind. That complete and utter baptism by fire of the programmers of this era, is something we'll never see again.

[@milk-it]

I love your anecdote, Dave. Personally, I have a lot of overlap with your life until the end of high school. Coding in C and Assembly, and hacking have been at the heart of my computing fun all through my childhood and up to now, although not professionally. I was especially touched when you mentioned your friend Chris, who coded on Test Drive II, which I blitzed the high score table of, that came with the box set. Later on in 1997, I aced an Australia wide competition in lap times in a Need For Speed edition for EB Games stores' competition, that saw me win a trip to a famous race in Australia, the Bathurst 1000. I have always given the creators of Test Drive and Test Drive II credit for all the practice I got, which helped me win that competition. Like you, I grew up on a C64, then an IBM PC XT, then an Amiga, and then more PCs. Even though I have a kick-ass PC now, I still have my original C64, A500 and several other Amigas I love to tinker on. Can't get enough of your content, Dave - keep it coming.

[@colincarter]

Hi Dave, as a retired engineer in my 60's, who built and programmed a computer in my bedroom in the 70's, I'm really enjoying your book. "Secrets of the Autistic Millionaire". It seems many of us engineers are on the spectrum as so much of your experiences ring true in my world. Thank you.

[@Falconite]

Man you are such an inspiration. You've always been scrappy, hard working, and inquisitive since the beginning. Total badass.

[@CommanderBalok]

Thank you for making this video and this channel. I find it enjoyable to learn more about these topics. Take care and stay well!

[@DavesGarage]

Thanks, you too!

[@ocwil]

The anecdote about the custom's officer needing help with Word is so funny!

[@hereticerik]

I appreciate your videos. I am 41, I ran a dialup BBS in the 90s until 2005. I started out with dos and desqview, then win 3.11. I also remember seeing ads for your software you mentioned too. I also have autism. I appreciate your videos and the time and effort you put into them. Thank you.

[@DavesGarage]

You're very welcome! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@SpinStar1956]

I started out with 8080 ML, then went to Z-80 Assembly using a Zilog resident assembler, then 68000 on an Amiga. I was a happy camper until both RISC came along and x86 finally won out over 680x0 series. I then relegated myself to C and some RISC PIC stuff but never have been as happy as the old days doing Z-80 and 68K... So, I can see the love for the KIM. Thanks for the video Dave!

[@saifal-badri]

Dave, it was great to meet you at VCF West and loved your talk. Asking you a question and being able to listen to those stories and many jokes made my day 😊

[@DavesGarage]

Thanks, you too!

[@bowentown7344]

Appreciate the stories. Also coded on the C64, a CS major, and based on your adventure path: i would not have gotten hired by MSFT. So I had a career in public service and dev'd a bunch of SQL systems that are still in play +20-25 years later. You add a real story to all the floppies and boxes that I've opened through the decades. I did my best according to my abilities.

[@frankhaugen]

You are what happens when you have supportive parents that fosters a kid's interests

[@DavesGarage]

It sure helps! For me, at least, it never would have happened otherwise!

[@TimHoppen]

You may be deeply indebted to us, but I'm deeply grateful to hear all of these stories. Thanks for sharing, Dave! Some day, I myself may start writing down stories of what it's like to be a UEFI firmware developer. I started in 'BIOS' right after the mass migration to C from assembly, and I've always been UEFI and not legacy BIOS (though I've looked at it from time to time). I'd need to make a few phone calls to get the really cool stories from the 90s and earlier.

[@ArifGhostwriter]

Do it buddy! Otherwise, these stories die with the amazing folk behind them.

[@artofdirecting]

So glad to hear how much a commodore guy helped shape the ms world! Loved that Hard Drive book too! Intel Outside!😂

[@alexbalak7558]

Thank you for sharing your experience, it's so cool. I learned a lot.

[@csfinch7672]

Your channel is a safe haven for all geeks alike. I love your channel, and you have inspired me to dive deeper into C++ and do my indie game dev projects that I always put on the backburner because projects that paid the bills always took priority. Thank you for sharing your story. It's truly amazing!!

[@CharlesofState]

You're a great story-teller. Keep it up!

[@bedwablackburn]

Thank you for the story of HOW you got where you did, where you've been and how many of us have used your programs and not even realized it. DOS in the 6.x era was the first OS I used as a teenager. It's been a long strange trip.

[@mikeandersen8535]

Love stories from the "old days". Being the same age as you, most of it seems like "yesterday".😄 Fun stuff, and thanks for taking the time creating these videos.

[@ChristianKurzke]

You are my most favorite KZbin channel. It's amazing to learn about your career, and to relive those days. You're about 5 years ahead of me, but we have had an overall very similar career path. My love of computers started with a C=64 in the basement of my parents in Germany, then I started a series of my own businesses, which lead me to silicon valley, and now pretty much coding recreationally. It's kinda fun when you realize suddenly that... " What would I do if I had enough money that I don't have to work anymore"... And the answer is "well, I would basically just want to program anyways". So, all the best to you. Thank you for making such cool content. And, from one gray beard to another, happy tinkering!

[@williamdavidwallace3904]

I got my son a Sinclair "ZX81 (which) is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing for the general public. It was hugely successful; more than 1.5 million units were sold" as I could not afford a Comodore or a PC knock off (due to a 17% mortgage on our house). It used a TV as it's monitor and ran Basic. My son also programmed it in assembler.

[@20chocsaday]

Good for your son. I bought one second hand at a car boot sale and used it to find the mathematical relationship between increasing concentrations of a yellow ink on a particular kind of paper. Obviously it could not hold an editable program so it took many attempts. Once I got the straight line graph, which is definitely not Beer's Law, I wrote it down. But when I tried applying it to a different ink it was by no means a straight line. Still, I was able to use it to print a catalogue of tapes Dave is really interesting to listen to and in my view, humourous with it.

[@jasonrubik]

I've watched you for a long time Dave, and I can say that this was one of your best videos ! Please take us on that journey into the land of old retro hardware !! Cheers !

[@DavesGarage]

Thanks, will do!

[@BatteryAz1z]

You're such a great storyteller Dave, so glad I found your channel.

[@mrt1r]

I love hearing these stories! Thank you for sharing your life with us!

[@JV-pu8kx]

My favorite is the Visual ZIP story.

[@DavesGarage]

You're very welcome, glad you found them interesting or entertaining!

[@therealherbzy]

Wow great video! As a professional software engineer, I find it striking just how much things have changed. Things used to be so bare metal and now we operate on much higher levels of abstraction. Its so interesting to hear about how things used to get done when those layers of abstraction didnt exist.

[@aylivex]

Your stories are fascinating. These 40 minutes flew like an instance. Coding seem easier these days, there are so many resources to help you; thus coding for the constraints of the past hardware and accomplishing great thing is just incredible to me.

[@0bits_1]

I've recently been learning x86 Assembly, and to be honest, it's really helped me with regards to High Level Programming, but - contrary to what a lot of people say - I actually find Low Level Programming easier to understand and work with. It's so much more simpler. In my opinion at least. You have to be a lot more careful with it, but - to be honest - I think that should be part of any coding and programming, because then you'll build up a much clearer/deeper understanding of what the code will do before you compile and run it.

[@robertnurss6511]

All I can say is a big "Thank You" for the fantastic content as the previous comments, here and on all of your earlier videos, mirror my own fond sentiments.

[@rhodaborrocks1654]

Very interesting. I too am a retired software developer, initially, C on VMS and for the last 22 years C++ on Unix, HPUX, Solaris, AIX etc for the telecomms industry, but my career began quite differently, as a ship's radio officer. I would travel with either an Apple ][ or Rockwell AIM 65 if I had to fly to join a ship, and I learnt to code while away at sea. I've never been a Microsoft fan but when the last outfit I worked for was taken over by a US company we were all forced to run Windows desktops, so I have some experience with it. I too often think back over my nearly 40 years in the business and am still proud of my achievements, most of it will be running across the globe for many years to come. I've kept my hand in since retiring, I'm a CW amateur radio operator and enjoy experimenting with software defined radio, it is very rewarding to build hardware and software that you can actually use in real time. You've certainly had a long and interesting career in what is a very rewarding industry, and I'm very happy to have had a slice of it too.

[@ExperimentIV]

as a fellow autistic person who is canadian to boot, i love your channel, and hearing your story like this was great. my dad used to be in TPUG, and while he’s much more an electrical engineer than a software guy, you kind of remind me of him (i’m pretty sure he’s autistic too, haha). it makes your channel feel nice and familiar.

[@jovetj]

Thanks for the well-paced, informative, and enlightening video, Mr. Plummer.

[@jetslizer2570]

I know very little about computer programming but I've been binging your vids all week, love hearing little stories about something as everyday and seemingly mundane as Windows and you're an excellent story teller!

[@DavesGarage]

Wow, thanks! Glad you're enjoying them!

Fascinating life story, keep'em coming! On a slightly related note, Task manager always stood out for me within Windows as something better than the rest of the stack. Too bad I used to have to use it too often back in the days.

[@jerryplante4239]

Thanks for the walk down memory lane. I started on TRS-80s but 10 years ahead. I was also a fixture at the local Radio Shack and the store manager would redirect customers to me when they asked "What does this thing do?" One day I walked in and he offered me the deal of the month - 12k of memory to bring my machine up to 16k. My response? "I can't imagine writing a program that big". Also like you , a lot of people have run code that I wrote. Anyone typing a key on early clone PCs with a Phoenix BIOS, or anyone that sorted the list view on the Windows Volume Manage has. It was a hell of a ride, from 8085 assembly on factory hardened terminals to BIOS for a clone that never made it, to Windows 3.x device drivers, I worked startups up and down Route 128 outside Boston. If my ex wasn't such a Pilgrim, I might have been working for you. Keep the memories coming Dave.

[@bubbavonbraun]

I think the industry owes RadioShack a huge thank you for the 1000's of computer labs they setup globally, like Dave and yourself (and I am sure many others), its was my Friday/Saturday go to and lead to my first commercial programming job.

[@ignacionr]

So much connect to your experience! And great story telling! Clap clap

[@RaffaelOliveiraSousa1]

You are a treasure Dave, keep doing what you love and sharing it with us.

[@arasb3258]

You worked hard, and the world appreciates it still in 2023! Thank you for your service to progress! Task Manager is beloved. (We all also love blinking lights).

[@jlawton]

2:21 Today I learned a new word: aptronym. Big fan of your work, book, and shirt, Dave. As someone who got started coding on a 386 and remembers using 5.25" floppies and typing `win` to launch the 3.11 interface, it's fascinating to hear how MS-DOS and Windows was developed during that era and how using tools you helped build led to my own rewarding career in IT. Thank you for sharing!

[@daysiewaysie]

IIRC, win 3.11 was started with "win /3" to start it in enhanced mode .. ? otherwise you are just using windows in standard mode

[@arasb3258]

Belongs in a Frasier 2024 episode.

[@exkalibur25ca]

Hands down one of the best videos I've ever seen. Watching you tell old stories is like watching an artist paint. It's beautiful. Thank you so much for this 40 minutes of absolute joy. ❤️

[@aldcwatson]

Dave - Great story! I can totally relate to your wedding . I was working in building 2 with the DOSWOW team, under mattfe, integrating my company's 16 bit emulation into NT. I can't remember the exact details but some sort of big deadline was coming up. I was due to head back to the UK to get married at the end of May 1992, but was repeatedly asked to stay in Redmond. Needless to say, my wife-to-be (now wife of 31 years) was getting a little concerned. Long story short: I made it back three days prior to my wedding, took an extra week and headed right back :-) I left my wife in the UK and returned for the weekend of our first wedding anniversary. Yes, that's right: just a flying visit - literally! In total I spent 5 years with the NT team both in building 2 and the new one (28?) that they moved to deeper in the campus. Thanks for bringing back the memories!

[@piotrcthlu]

It's fascinating to get first hand information and view from someone so close with the industry in the early days. The way you write and talk is really engaging, I'm happy I've found the channel. Stay happy and in good health

[@BrianLinzy]

Fantastic storytelling. Maybe my favorite of Dave's videos to date.

[@DavesGarage]

Wow, thanks!

[@xGoldColossus]

im 30 years old barely graduated high school. always struggled paying attention in school and finding motivation or interest in things. but ive always had a love of computers. my dad was a programmer and a lot of my friends are programmers to some degree or another. and as time has gone on ive started getting this desire to learn to code. up til now ive procrastinated. made excuses. worry that im not good enough or smart enough. whatever. but listening to your stories really have been inspiring. i think this vid has really just been another kick in the right direction for me. thank you for all the work youve put in to make windows what it is and for sharing your stories with us.

[@vincentjonesvr]

Holy shit, that off the cuff line about being suicidal while working for 7-11, at least that's how I interpreted the shiny blade line. You dropped that so casually, but I feel like you probably spent hours deciding whether or not to include that in the script. Honestly, thank you for doing so. I'm currently aiming to become a security analyst while working 50 hours a week managing an extremely busy and understaffed cafe, and there's been more than one late night when I've had the thought cross my mind. You're inspirational.

[@20chocsaday]

Hmm. I thought he meant that someone tried to mug him.

[@joeolejar]

I had the same experience starting at a non Bell phone company. Sold as a training position. After 4 months, in early 1971, they threw me into the deep end. I learned to appreciate the opportunity.

[@A2music]

It's very weird hearing someone online say these names and words just like I would in my life... I am currently growing up in Saskatchewan (though too young to ever have seen the Radio Shack in Regina... never knew that even existed there) and trying to make a name for myself online. Ive been loving your channel and learning that a guy from my home province made task manager was so cool and i still think it's amazing! This is a great video, thank you for making it :)

[@DavesGarage]

You're welcome! And it doesn't matter where you start, it matters what you do!

[@rickmartin6817]

I take valuable time I don't have from work I must do in order to watch your videos. They are always more than worth the sacrifice.

[@DavesGarage]

That's high praise! Thanks!

[@gotbordercollies]

You are an amazing man, and you tell wonderful stories (history) lessons. 😊

[@danieldawson4937]

Fascinating career Dave, thanks for sharing your story! I'm keen to see an episode about getting Zork running on the PDP 11/23/73.

[@bobvines00]

Dave, like many/most f the other comenters here, I really enjoy hearing your stories. I also enjoy your "retro" episodes about your old computers & old vehicles!

[@DavesGarage]

Glad you like them! I want to do more retro stuff if there's an appetite for it!

[@PineappleForFun]

Since you teased Zork, I would love to see you getting that up and running on classic hardware. I loved all the Infocom text adventures back in the day.

[@leepshin]

Dave you were so lucky. I was born in the UK in 1972 with Asperger's to two clueless abusive parents. I spent my whole life being bullied at school, then drifting from part time job to temporary job until the last 10 years, I spent unemployed until I just gave up searching for a job. I'm now left a broken useless feeling man.

[@fmas1978]

26:05 and what follows brought a smile to my face as I lived in the UK while even my bespoke suit was being completed back home in Poland... flew in for measurements and last 'minute' adjustments and then a day before the wedding for the final touches (hair and the like), photo shoot 'before' and off to the vows and signatures the next day... or something much like that if memory deceives me

[@TalkingBook]

25:07 “I’d bet you could save 15% or more and switch to the U of R”. This is genius.

[@tohrruu8308]

As a young adult studying CS, hearing your fascinating stories is fantastic and really inspiring! Thanks for sharing your stories Dave!

[@benkolya]

This is an absolute treasure trove of information, personal stories and humour, from a hugely influential time. Definitely your best video yet! What a treat, thank you Dave ❤

[@MorikaWeb]

Great history lesson, I hope you keep posting more videos like this.

[@thegrayjedi974]

Loved MSDOS, it just friggin worked. These days, I can't get through the week without BSODs, green screens and system freezing. Appreciate all that you did! I spent countless hours in DOS playing games like Doom, Doom 2, Crusader No Remorse and No Regret, SimCity, the Bullfrog lineup (Dungeon Keeper anyone?) and countless others. You glued me to a computer screen for the first time, and I have never looked back. Kudos!

[@michaelwaterman3553]

What a wonderful story! Parts align with mine, started at Microsoft at 2007, left in 2016. Great company indeed. Not as gifted at programming as you are, but I recognize the love for building stuff and seeing it working at the end. Keep up the great videos!

[@0bits_1]

I love your videos, Dave. I can relate to the sentiment of essentially 'winging it' but being confident enough to say 'Yeah, I can do that.' and then having the ability to quickly figure it out and learn. There's nothing quite like the determination to achieve coupled with the risk of losing your job to motivate you to learn fast and get results. I've always been fortunate in that I'm a quick learner and a fast worker and am able to understand and pick up Programming logic quite quickly. I suspect the same is true of yourself.

[@aresaurelian]

This is so interesting to hear about. Thank you for sharing @Dave's Garage.

[@filteredjc4653]

I always learn something interesting from your videos Dave. Love this channel, thank you so much!

[@charlieb8735]

I just want to say thank you for sharing your firsthand account of contributing to what likely will go down in history as the most influential software during an immensely pivotal time in modern history much less the history of computers. The stories alone are incredible but the historical context makes it all the more fortunate that we get the benefit of these videos.

[@jondoef]

That was the best 40 minutes I've spent watching a screen in a long time! As a fellow 1968 David, Thanks for sharing!

[@ralphparks8654]

Fascinating history intertwined with a personal journey. I'm old enough to have used MS Dos and marvelled at Windows 3.11....... I'm glad I discovered your channel - thanks from the UK.

[@DavesGarage]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@harbor.boundary.flight]

Dave, this is one of your best videos yet! Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.

[@bitegoatie]

Cool episode. I usually avoid long videos for several reasons, with the main ones involving my bad health. Something told me to watch this one. I am glad I did. Are you sure you were never a voiceover guy or a DJ back in Regina? Maybe the tone or the clarity of the voice isn't quite right, but you definitely have a plains-style lilt and a solid commercial rhythm to your delivery, making the listening easy. That's especially so given your deep stock of worthwhile tech-geek anecdotes and references, which helps eat up the minutes without listener fatigue. At least, they're worthwhile for the types who know something about RISC processors and DOS and assembly and machine code and all the rest. So count me in. Thanks.

[@DavesGarage]

They used to call me the Concerned Citizen. No, just kidding....

[@sailornaut-2014]

I love how you mention your tendency to volunteer for something you have no experience with and just act like you know what you are doing. This is a concept i wish i knew when i was younger because i started doing this after joining the military and it has driven me into a more successful career than i could have imagined back in my home town

[@mannyrodriguez2001]

Thank you for sharing your life story and making us travel through memory lane. Also, thank you for inspiring someone like me, a 53 year old man from Puerto Rico and spending almost 25 years working in the IT industry, to further dream for new opportunites and adventures. I discovered your KZbin channel by accident and feel fascinated by viewing your inside perspectives on Microsoft Windows features that we take for granted and that were created by you.

[@simonlathwell]

I really enjoy your videos Dave, especially the Windows War Stories from your time at Microsoft. Like yourself I am on the Autism spectrum, but for me I really enjoy building and maintaning computers and servers as I find the hardware really interesting. I like going down the sometimes deep rabbit hole when dealing with a computer, server or piece of hardware that has failed, and won't stop until I've found the problem. I do enjoy the software side of finding and fixing problems in code, but not as much as the hardware. Keep up the good work, and I always look forward to your next video.

[@Edzward]

YET. ANOTHER. AMAZING. HISTORY! Thank you for invest your time into telling it to us!

[@DavesGarage]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jamesarseneau5623]

Hi Dave, I love listening to your stories on coding for the Microsoft world. I became involved in the XT and 286 world writing an interface for a product my company Summa Four made for PBX vendors to collect and report on phone calls made through their PBX systems using an RS-232 interface based on a product of Basic that was compiled in the late 80s. It was a knock of of Visual Basic. It was so satisfying and fun. I considered my work coding assembly language subroutines that could be called from Basic to control the printer output, screen layout and user interface exciting. Keep your videos coming as you have a great way of explaining things and you are very clear and concise.

[@jamesarseneau5623]

The BASIC was TurboBasic and it could be compiled and could call assembly code from libraries you could included.

[@tomaskopriva8233]

In a few words: fantastic, informative, imusing, inspiring .. and I am pretty sure, that there are many more words, which can describe all your posts. Especially your voice is very smooth and realy nice to listen to. It is kinda strange to see and hear someone, who created so many programs, which I used in the past or which I am still using today, on the daily basis. God or rather Dave bless the Task Manager. Anyway please keep the chanel alive. Me and many more others will be waiting for the new posts .. as the child waits for the christmass presents :).

[@rpetty]

Thank you for sharing this story. The sacrifices our parents made for us is nothing short of amazing. We owe the a great debt. FWIW, Commodore Pet did it for me.

[@mattwuk]

I'm 51 and had a similar experience in nerd terms as a kid and was looking forward to getting my VIC20 for Christmas in 1982 but the shop told my parents there was some issue with it so I never got it. I'll always never get over that but I went on to enjoy friends systems, work in factories and manual jobs until 1998 when the tech revolution swept the UK and I was out of work and ended up on a course that taught networking and installing DOS to Win 3.11 which was the pinnacle at the time. I learned and ended up building a dwdm network up and down the uk that still lives. My point? I'm a nerd and appreciate your videos decades later 👊

[@TDur-xr5rw]

Dave this was very interesting to live trough your experience from youth to Microsoft ! Congrats and thanks for making a difference in Software history

[@DrChrisGregg]

Dave--as the average KZbin video gets shorter every day, I love that you're recording long-form pieces. Your videos are about the only long ones I watch regularly--thank you! As someone just a smidge younger, your C64 and x86 stories are so relatable. Also: visual zip is great, but you don't know how many times my students try to open files directly from the zip file in an IDE, causing all sorts of issues...😊

[@FlightSimXtreem]

I love LOVE hearing this, am in my 20s, and am already coding for a aircraft company, while building cars as a side project(s). And I just can relate to you very much.

[@realdanielmaclean]

Dave, you are a fantastic story teller and your life story is so interesting. Thanks for sharing, very inspiring.

[@DavesGarage]

Thanks for listening!

[@tgitm]

It's a shame that there aren't more like Dave creating software now, it saddens me to think where we could be if there were.

[@charliecashman]

What a fabulous story - thanks for telling it. I have worked on a lot of the really old gear that showed up in the marine industry and know my way around the hardware and software enough to be dangerous, but never and expert. As a result, the videos and stories that you present are just such a fabulous method to revisit some of the 'good old days' and answer a lot of questions that I had often wondered about. I'm retired not too, and fundamentally do the same thing you do, but instead of cars and things mechanical I play around with a full midi enabled hurdy gurdy. Keeps me occupied. Although I'm not motivated to share my past stories with strangers, you have my admiration as someone who does. I sincerely hope you keep making these - I have watched everything you have produced and it has been immensely entertaining.

[@badboybruno547]

Hey Dave, hello from Australia. Big fan of the channel. I’m a Java developer down under. Would love to hear more stories about your side businesses, more specifically the one you mentioned about leaving Microsoft for. Keep up the good work mate.

[@airfixer9461]

Great video Dave, I loved to hear your story!

[@AndersKeisHansen]

Thank you for sharing an amazing story ! :) And greetings from Denmark !

You are a fantastic story teller! I love listening to your videos. Thank you!

[@DavesGarage]

Thank you so much! I never get to hear it from your perspective so appreciate the feedback!

[@1CrazyIvan]

Such an awesome story!! Thank Dave, I don;t feel so bad now, loving my hobbies!! "Old Guys Rule!!"

[@tonigon5767]

Thank you for sharing such a personal story. I'm really glad I found your channel.

[@humphshumphs]

Bloody brilliant. Can't fault the video, and even though it is 40minutes long, the time just flew by. Thank you.

[@markN_CS]

As a 25 years old guy and IT system engineer from Germany I just want to thank you for sharing your insights as an OS-engineer. Topics like the story behind the bluescreen, the development of Task-Manager or like the software activation system for Windows works, are gold for me and I could listen to them everytime.

[@BitwiseMobile]

Very similar background story. Dad was an aerospace machinist and he started learning about CNC back in the late 70s and early 80s. He told me programming was the way to go. I used to help him in his shop and we made parts for various military aircraft. My uncle was a professor (at the time he was an associate, but he got full professorship eventually) at LBSU and he was visiting one weekend. He had brought over his TRS-80 Model 100 with this huge print out of BASIC. I was in 9th grade and I was taking advanced algebra. We were going over greatest common factors and in the sidebar of the book was some BASIC code. For some reason that code just rang out to me. Since I was heavy into math and really loving it, the functional approach to it really made my head spin - in a good way. That was the bite that started it. My uncle let me play around on his Model 100. He was explaining to me his program. He was an English professor, but he was working with a graduate student to help him write this program for ESL students. Well he showed me the code and I noticed this PEEK and POKE. I asked him what those were. He explained to me it sets certain codes in the computer. Oh man, that started another search and I eventually taught myself assembler using DOS Debug (DOS 3.1 I believe). This was after my parents went into serious debt to buy a Leading Edge Model D. They paid like $5k of 1984 dollars. That's a lot now. Anyway, that was the start of it all. I went into the Navy to learn electronics, because coding wasn't enough. I wanted to know how computers worked all the way down the atomic level almost. Seriously. I wanted to get as low level as I could, so I could understand the essence of them. That's always been my approach to things - many a torn up toy when I was a kid trying to figure out how it worked can attest to that. Anyway, I learned electronics and went on to get a CSE degree, so I can design chips, layout a circuit, and write code.

[@BitwiseMobile]

I almost worked for Microsoft back in '07. They were working on their Identity software and I had just finished a gig doing something right along the lines of that. I had an offer and everything, but we couldn't negotiate a relocation package and I wasn't willing to relocate without some kind of package. Not that it matters, but I was almost at the Redmond campus :D. I did work for a company that was a Qualcomm/Microsoft joint venture for enabling Outlook (it wasn't called Outlook back then - I can't remember what the name was, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Outlook) for mobile devices. This in the pre-smart phone era - like '00 I believe. In fact I got laid off soon after 911, so yeah, it was '99 to '00. We were targeting WML and Blackberry devices. We were also heavily involved in doing the same for Lotus Notes / Domino. The later was a f**king nightmare. If you think Microsoft code is bad. IBM code takes the cake. It was so buggy. Ironically we were also one of the beta testers for .Net Framework. We rewrote our ISAPI layer using Modules and Handlers. That was some complex code and error prone. Rewriting it in C# using the .Net framework really helped.

[@BitwiseMobile]

Exchange Server - that's what we were integration with. I knew I would remember eventually :P. That was a fun gig and I learned a lot at that job.