Raymond Chen
The latest Raymond Chen coverage — news, analysis, and updates from the WindowsNews.AI desk.
Windows 11 Reliability Crisis: How Microsoft's Compatibility Legacy Haunts Modern Users
Windows 11 criticism has shifted from feature complaints to fundamental reliability concerns. Users now report persistent performance issues, unexpected crashes, and a growing sense that Microsoft...
Space Cadet Pinball's Secret 5,000 FPS Bug: The Story Behind Raymond Chen's Frame-Rate Fix
When Dave Plummer ported the beloved Space Cadet pinball table to Windows NT in the mid-1990s, he never imagined his rendering loop would someday consume an entire CPU core, cranking out an estimated...
The HLT Instruction: Why Windows 95 Left It Out to Avoid Bricking Laptops
Microsoft shipped Windows 95 without a crucial power-saving CPU instruction—not because the engineers didn’t know how to implement it, but because using it risked turning customers’ laptops...
The Accidental 5,000 FPS Pinball Bug That Taught Microsoft a Lasting Timing Lesson
Dave Plummer’s port of Space Cadet Pinball to Windows NT shipped with an unintentionally aggressive rendering loop—one that would eventually burn an entire CPU core on modern hardware, spinning...
How a Missing Frame Limiter Made Windows Pinball a CPU-Core Hog—and the 100 FPS Fix That Saved It
Dave Plummer, a retired Microsoft engineer who ported Windows to multiple architectures, has called it his worst shipped bug—and it lived inside one of the most beloved pack-in games of all time....
Understanding the Mystery of the Blank App Preventing Windows Shutdown
For decades, Windows users have encountered an enigmatic roadblock during shutdown: the appearance of a “blank” or unnamed app in the shutdown dialog, labeled simply “This app is preventing...
From MS-DOS to Windows 95: Microsoft's Strategic Evolution in Personal Computing
The glow of monochrome monitors and the rhythmic clatter of mechanical keyboards once defined computing, a realm where MS-DOS reigned supreme. For over a decade, users navigated systems through...
MS-DOS Had Hidden Graphics Modes From Day One, BIOS Reveals
When most people think of MS-DOS, they picture a stark black screen with white or green text—a purely command-line interface that seems light-years away from today's graphical Windows environments....
Why Windows 95 Chose a Text-Based Setup Over GUI Installation
Windows 95 was a revolutionary operating system that introduced the modern GUI experience to millions of users, yet its installation process began with an unexpected throwback: a text-based setup....
The Ingenious Setup of Windows 95: A Nostalgic Journey Through Tech History
The Ingenious Setup of Windows 95: A Nostalgic Journey Windows 95 wasn't just an operating system—it was a cultural phenomenon that redefined personal computing. Released on August 24, 1995, its...