Oct 8, 2003
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Why is address space allocation granularity 64KB?
You have RISC processors like the Alpha AXP to thank for that.
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Oct 7, 2003
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Low-tech usability testing
My pal Jason Moore discusses using paper prototypes as a fast way to get usability feedback. I found it interesting that by going low-tech, you actually get better feedback, because people are more willing to criticize a paper model than running code. (And another advantage of the paper model is that you can make changes on the...
Oct 6, 2003
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Why does the System Properties page round the memory size?
During Windows 95 beta testing, people ran the System Properties page and complained about "missing memory". The Windows 95 System Properties page reports the amount of memory available to Windows as system memory, which is not necessarily the same as the amount of memory installed in your co...
Oct 3, 2003
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Why can't I use &-accelerators on the Start menu?
The first letter of the program is the accelerator and there's nothing you can do about it. So if you have ten programs by Microsoft, they all use the accelerator "M". (Yes I hate this too. The first thing I do after installing a Microsoft program is go into the Start menu and delete the word "Microsoft" from t...
Sep 30, 2003
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Why is the readonly property for folders so strange?
It's actually a signal to Explorer to look harder.
Sep 29, 2003
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Why you can’t rotate text
Answering a comment from an earlier entry.
Sep 20, 2003
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When I dock my taskbar vertically, why does the word "Start" disappear?
Because the alternative is even worse. If the taskbar is not wide enough to display the entire word "Start", then the word "Start" is hidden. To get it back, resize the taskbar wider until the word "Start" reappears. This behavior is by design. From a design point of view, a partia...
Sep 16, 2003
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Why does Win32 fail a module load if an import could not be resolved?
Because we tried it the other way and it was much worse. In 16-bit Windows, a module that didn't satisfy all its imports would still load. As long as you didn't call a missing import, you were fine. If you did try to call a missing import, you crashed pretty spectacularly with the dreaded U...
Sep 12, 2003
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Why does the taskbar default to the bottom of the screen?
The original taskbar didn't look at all like what you see today. It defaulted to the top of the screen.
Sep 10, 2003
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Why do some people call the taskbar the “tray”?
Short answer: Because they're wrong. Long answer: The official name for the thingie at the bottom of the screen is the "taskbar". The taskbar contains a variety of elements, such as the "Start Button", a collection of "taskbar buttons", the clock, and the "Taskbar Notification Area". One of the most common errors is to refer to the Taskbar Notif...