The Old Ne Thing Practical Development Throughout the Evolution of Windos [Paperback]

Raymond Chenwrites The Old New Thing, one of today's most influential technology blogs. A programmer at Microsoft Corporation, Chen has been involved in the evolution of Windows for more than a decade. He also writesTechNet Magazine's Windows Confidential column and has been known to make appearances at technology events.

Much ink is devoted to describing the how of using and developing software for Windows, but few authors go into the why. What might appear at first to be quirks often turn out to have entirely logical explanations, reflecting the history, evolution, and philosophy of the Microsoft Windows operating system. This book attempts to provide knowledge not so much in the form of telling what needs to be done (although there is certainly plenty of that, too) but rather by helping to understand why things came to be that way. Thus informed of the history and philosophy of Windows, you can become a more effective Windows programmer.

The emphasis here, then, is on the rationale behind Windows. It is not a reference or even a tutorial, but rather a practical history, taking a conversational rather than didactic approach in an attempt to give you an appreciation for the philosophy of Windows through a series of brief, largely independent essays. You can therefore skip freely to topics of momentary interest (or technical expertise). Essays have been grouped into general themes, and there is the occasional sequential pedagogical treatment when a topic is explored in depth; even in those cases, however, the topic is confined to a single self-contained chapter.

Writer and commentator David Sedaris is often asked whether his stories are true. He responds that they are true enough. Like David Sedaris's stories, the material in this book is also true enough. The focus is on the big picture, not on the minutiae; on making a single point without getting distracted by nitpicking detail. Key details are highlighted, butlÃa