The Old New Thing

"Raymond Chen is the original raconteur of Windows."</p>

--Scott Hanselman, ComputerZen.com</p>

"Raymond has been at Microsoft for many years and has seen many nuances of Windows that others could only ever hope to get a glimpse of. With this book, Raymond shares his knowledge, experience, and anecdotal stories, allowing all of us to get a better understanding of the operating system that affects millions of people every day. This book has something for everyone, is a casual read, and I highly recommend it!"</p>

--Jeffrey Richter, Author/Consultant, Cofounder of Wintellect </p>

"Very interesting read. Raymond tells the inside story of why Windows is the way it is."</p>

--Eric Gunnerson, Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation</p>

"Absolutely essential reading for understanding the history of Windows, its intricacies and quirks, and why they came about."</p>

--Matt Pietrek, MSDN Magazine's Under the Hood Columnist</p>

"Raymond Chen has become something of a legend in the software industry, and in this book you'll discover why. From his high-level reminiscences on the design of the Windows Start button to his low-level discussions of GlobalAlloc that only your inner-geek could love, The Old New Thing is a captivating collection of anecdotes that will help you to truly appreciate the difficulty inherent in designing and writing quality software."</p>

--Stephen Toub, Technical Editor, MSDN Magazine</p>

Why does Windows work the way it does? Why is Shut Down on the Start menu? (And why is there a Start button, anyway?) How can I tap into the dialog loop? Why does the GetWindowText function behave so strangely? Why are registry files called "hives"?</p>

Many of Windows' quirks have perfectly logical explanations, rooted in history. Understand them, and you'll be more productive and a lot less frustrated. Raymond Chen--who's spent more than a decade on Microsoft's Windows development team--reveals the "hidden Windows" you need to know.</p>

Chen's engaging style, deep insight, and thoughtful humor have made him one of the world's premier technology bloggers. Here he brings together behind-the-scenes explanations, invaluable technical advice, and illuminating anecdotes that bring Windows to life--and help you make the most of it.</p>

A few of the things you'll find inside:</p>

What vending machines can teach you about effective user interfaces

A deeper understanding of window and dialog management

Why performance optimization can be so counterintuitive

A peek at the underbelly of COM objects and the Visual C++ compiler

Key details about backwards compatibility--what Windows does and why

Windows program security holes most developers don't know about

How to make your program a better Windows citizen