The creation of the Format drive dialog box for Windows 11 dates back nearly 30 years ago at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond. According to former developer Dave Plummer, the dialog box was supposed to be a temporary solution during the transition from Windows 95 to Windows NT. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the basic UI that Plummer designed ended up staying in use until today.
When developing the Format drive dialog box, Plummer carefully considered all the options and choices related to formatting a disk, such as filesystem, label, cluster size, compression, and encryption. He thought of his creation as a placeholder until a more refined UI could be implemented. However, the elegant UI improvement never materialized, leading to Plummer’s temporary solution becoming a permanent fixture in Windows 11.
One interesting limitation of the Format drive dialog box is its restriction on the format size of a FAT volume to just 32GB. This decision was made by Plummer himself, who had to determine the appropriate amount of “cluster slack.” As a result, the 32GB limit was set arbitrarily, and it has persisted as a side effect of his initial design choice. While FAT actually supports volumes of up to 2TB, Windows users must rely on third-party tools to create larger FAT volumes, even though the operating system can read them accurately.
Despite numerous updates and redesigns to the Windows user interface over the years, Microsoft has surprisingly left the Format drive dialog box untouched since its inception in Windows NT. This lack of attention to a critical system component like the format dialog box highlights the challenges and complexities of maintaining legacy software components in modern operating systems.
The history of Windows 11’s Format drive dialog box is a testament to the enduring nature of software design choices. What began as a temporary solution has now become a permanent feature, shaping the user experience of millions of Windows users worldwide. As technology continues to evolve, it is crucial for developers and designers to reflect on the long-lasting implications of their decisions, ensuring that legacy components are not neglected in the pursuit of innovation.
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