G. PASCAL ZACHARY
SHOW STOPPER!
The Breakneck Race
To
Create Windows NT
And
the Next Generation at Microsoft
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CONTENTS
0.INTRODUCTION 3
1.CODE WARRIOR 8
2.THE KING OF CODE 31
3.TRIBES 49
4.BLIND ALLEY 81
5.GROWLING BEARS 119
6.DOG FOOD 157
7.SHIP MODE 191
8.DEATH MARCH 232
9.BUGGED 276
10.SHOWSTOPPER 323
11.EPILOGUE 368
12.A NOTE ON SOURCES 382
13.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 387
INDEX 390
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0.INTRODUCTION
David N. Cutler, wearing white Reeboks, white pants and a T-shirt bearing the legend
Over the Line, bursts into the Build Lab and takes stock of the largest, most complex
program ever created for a personal computer.
It is 10:20 in the morning, and the latest "build" of the program, called Windows NT, is
hours late. Cutler, the leader of the team making NT, is angry about the delay, angry about
a botched test the day before, angry at the world. He knows that nothing slows progress
more than a steady accumulation of small lapses, and he is bent on pushing ahead.
Cutler insists on frequent builds, or samples, of NT so that his 250 programmers can
"eat their own dog food." It is a frustrating experience, not unlike building a house from
scratch while living in it. The sooner a build arrives, the sooner his team will test their
latest creation, discover its imperfections and improve it.
Scowling, Cutler now slumps into a swivel chair and glares at the computer screen
before him. He hits a few keys and groans.
Cutler's unhappiness is contagious. Three builders, who stitch together NT with the
aid of computers, hover behind Cutler, busying themselves while Cutler churns. One, a
shoeless and jittery young man, juggles three rubber balls. He is surrounded by dozens of
computers. The voice of Aretha Franklin, romping through "Dr. Feelgood," fills the room
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from the stereo speakers mounted on the wall.
No fan of juggling or Aretha, Cutler growls. He jumps to his feet, flinging the chair
behind him, and storms out of the lab. The shoeless juggler and the chief builder dip into a
big jar of Rolaids, popping one each. The day has soured early.
Minutes later, Cutler returns to the Build Lab even more upset. His bowlegged gait
and burly arms remind people of Popeye. "You're wasting the whole goddamn morning not
having this goddamn thing ready," he snaps. Then, sounding dejected, he tells the juggler,
"Call me if you ever get this [build] out today."
His face reddening even more, Cutler leaves again, steaming. His rough creed forbids
him from containing his emotions. "The way you let off stress is to let it out," he says. He
isn't too particular about how he does it. A circle drawn on the wall near the door marks
the spot where he once unleashed a violent kick, cracking his toe. Just the other day, he
smashed a wall with his fist, which ordinarily would not have caused a stir except that this
time he hit a stud and broke a finger.
Cutler's impatience is ill mannered but understandable. Time means everything to him
now. He is a year behind schedule, and after years of work his team is tired and frustrated.
Only the enormity of their goal sustains them now. The 250 members of the team aim to
produce a computer program so powerful and versatile that someday everyone will need it.
Standing in their way are thousands of bugs, or coding errors, and persistent doubts about
the basic design of NT, which stands for "New Technology."
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Rather than a single entity, NT consists of scores of intertwined programs that
together comprise an operating system. This software turns a personal computer into a
precise tool of thought, helping a person or an organization control its most valuable asset:
information. NT exerts its power through a dizzying succession of ordinary actions.
Seemingly at once, it may open a computer file, move text or graphics from one place to
another on a screen, print a letter, calculate a row of numbers and keep several word
processors, spreadsheets and other applications from getting in each other's way. NT's
most profound benefits are hidden. Its invisible acts sustain a computer much as
unconscious acts-taking a breath, blinking an eye, hearing a sound-sustain a human life.
NT is alarmingly complex. Consisting of six million lines of code, the program is among
humanity's most intricate handiworks. "No one mind can comprehend it all," Cutler says.
A system as complicated as NT requires a rich patron. In William H. Gates, NT has one
of the richest. Gates is cofounder and chief executive of Microsoft Corp., the world's
largest software maker. With NT, Gates seeks to extend his software dominion from
desktop software, which he monopolizes, to the network. In the 1980s, Microsoft's DOS
and Windows system software defined the way most people worked with computers. In the
1990s, the company aims to define the software that electronically ties together workers
and businesses, consumers and homes. The making of NT, Gates hopes, will be the first
step toward realizing this grand dream.
Gates also intends to bring full circle the computer revolution of the past half century.
