--- title: "Windows 11 still relies on code from the 90s as its 'bedrock', says Microsoft's CTO" url: https://daily.dev/posts/windows-11-still-relies-on-code-from-the-90s-as-its-bedrock-says-microsoft-s-cto-pmcz2wlmy source_url: https://www.xda-developers.com/windows-11-still-relies-on-code-from-the-90s-as-its-bedrock-says-microsofts-cto type: article source: "XDA Developers" published: 2026-05-09T04:33:54.532Z updated: 2026-05-09T04:34:15.135Z tags: ["microsoft", "windows"] reading_time: 2 upvotes: 4 comments: 1 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Windows 11 still relies on code from the 90s as its 'bedrock', says Microsoft's CTO **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 2 min read · 4 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary Microsoft CTO Mark Russinovich revealed in an interview that Win32 code from the 1990s remains the foundational 'bedrock' of Windows 11. Russinovich noted that the engineers who wrote Win32 never anticipated it would still be a first-class API surface in 2026 — they were imagining flying cars and moon stations by now. Win32 became so deeply entrenched because thousands of developers built on top of it, making it practically impossible to replace. Even Microsoft's WinRT initiative failed to supplant it. The result is visible today in Windows 11's mix of modern UI and legacy elements like the Control Panel, which feels like a time warp to earlier decades. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@qwertydiy** · 0 upvotes > That explains why it has security vulns all the time! ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Windows 1.0 and the WinAPI, 40 Years Later](https://daily.dev/posts/windows-1-0-and-the-winapi-40-years-later-neh5lkqwf) · Two Stop Bits · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Windows won the desktop by being compatible with everything, but that's starting to look like a drawback](https://daily.dev/posts/windows-won-the-desktop-by-being-compatible-with-everything-but-that-s-starting-to-look-like-a-draw-cnkrih3uz) · XDA Developers · 20 upvotes · 8 comments --- Tags: [#microsoft](https://daily.dev/tags/microsoft), [#windows](https://daily.dev/tags/windows) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/windows-11-still-relies-on-code-from-the-90s-as-its-bedrock-says-microsoft-s-cto-pmcz2wlmy)