Windows 11 still runs on code from the 1990s, Microsoft admits
Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- PCWorld reports that Windows 11 still relies on code from the 1990s, specifically Windows 95’s Win32 API, for basic functions like right-clicking.
- Microsoft CTO Mark Russinovich recognizes the unexpected longevity of this legacy code, which remains fundamental to many core Windows applications and operations.
- Previous attempts to modernize the Windows API, including WinRT, have failed to fully replace the long-lasting Win32 system that continues to power the current operating system.
Windows 11 is the most modern, secure, and updated Windows ever, or at least that’s what Microsoft keeps saying. But a top Microsoft executive recently revealed how much of Windows 11’s underlying technology is still legacy, dating back decades.
One of these Windows 11 relics comes into play every time you right-click a file or launch a desktop app. When you perform such tasks, you are executing code written in the 1990s.
We’re talking about the Win32 API, for which Microsoft still maintains a programming reference support document. Although the Win32 API became widespread with Windows 95, it had already been implemented in Windows NT before. (See our visual tour of Windows through history!) But the surprising revelation here is that Microsoft never intended for this API to remain relevant for this long.
Mark Russinovich, CTO of Microsoft Azure and founder of Microsoft Sysinternals, explains in a video posted to social media by the Microsoft Dev Docs account:
Russinovich explains how no one expected Win32 to have such a lasting legacy and why he thinks it’s still so important today:
Did anyone in the 90s expect Win32 to still be a top API surface in 2026? And I think I can safely answer: “No.” No one, I think, would have expected that, because we were thinking about flying cars and moon stations by 2026. Not Win32 which was designed around the time of Windows 95. I think one of the reasons it has this durability is just a fundamental layer inside of Windows that so many applications have been built on – that so many technologies and ecosystems have been built on – that it’s sort of the foundation.
Russinovitch continues:
Now, I think there have been several times in Microsoft’s history where we thought about rebooting the Windows API surface, like WinRT, which didn’t turn out the way many people hoped, given the separation between the client, Win32, and the browser (HTML and JavaScript).
He ends the video by talking about a few other tools that were written decades ago and are still relevant today, including Sysinternals, Sysmon, and ZoomIt. Learn why Sysinternals is great for Windows troubleshooting and how Sysmon is added directly into Windows itself.
This article was originally published on our sister publication PC-WELT and has been translated and localized from German.
