Another big Windows update is expected this year; so big that it was originally thought to be Windows 12, although Microsoft ultimately decided it would be a new version of Windows 11 with artificial intelligence features.
Microsoft has accustomed us to releasing new versions of its system every few years, with important new features in the interface and operation. Some of these versions are more popular than others, and some modifications are better received than others; but what is clear is that all versions of Windows are easy to differentiate.
However, what many people may not know is that behind all these aesthetic changes, Windows hasn’t changed much
If it is not broke, do not fix it
But without a doubt, perhaps the oldest part of Windows that is still used and is the most surprising is the disk format menu; because it is one of the most basic tools of an operating system, and one of the most used, but nothing has really changed since 1996, with the launch of Windows NT 4.0.
And by that we don’t mean it’s the same as it was before; it’s that It’s literally the same menu which was created 30 years ago. This was confirmed by the creator himself, Dave Plummer, in a post on X (Twitter)where he reveals another surprising detail of this tool.
The menu for formatting disks in Windows 11
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The former Microsoft programmer explained that in reality, this menu It would only be used temporarily.; However, because it looked good and did its job, no one at Microsoft considered it a priority to change it, at least for now. It has been used since 1996.
This tool was implemented for the first time under Windows NT 4.0, the version of the operating system for servers and professional equipment. This was the first time it adopted a full graphical interface, notably that of Windows 95; so programmers had to transfer a lot of lines of code and make sure it worked correctly.
In the process, they realized that formatting disks under Windows NT was too different from Windows 95, forcing them to create this “temporary” solution while they created a permanent one, which ultimately didn’t work. never arrived. Starting with Windows XP, all system versions are based on Windows NT code, so the format tool It has been used by tens of millions of people from everyone.
The Windows Disk Format Tool can be accessed by simply right-clicking a hard drive or new SSD in File Explorer and clicking “Format.” It offers several options, such as file system, allocation unit size or volume name; For most users who simply want to erase a disc for reuse, The default options are sufficient and fast. This explains why no one wants to change it, with the philosophy of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
