Microsoft CTO confesses that 30-year-old code from the mid-90s still forms the bedrock of Windows 11 — ancient Win32 API still the backbone, but CTO says it's 'more relevant than ever in 2026'

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Instead of 'flying cars and moon stations' in 2026, we still have Windows 11 using '90s code, admits Mark Russinovich.

Microsoft Azure Chief Technical Officer Mark Russinovich speaks
(Image credit: Microsoft)

A top Microsoft exec has admitted that Windows 11 still relies on a bunch of old code from the 1990s. It is refreshing for Microsoft Azure Chief Technical Officer Mark Russinovich to highlight this fact on social media, but it might not surprise as many folks as he thinks.

As Russinovich eloquently puts it, those of us invested in the computer scene in the 90s “were thinking flying cars and moon stations by the year 2026, not Win32.” The admission that such old software tech is still the "bedrock" of Windows today may be the CTO strategically sharing a cold, hard truth, providing a 'let's be real' moment as part of Microsoft’s latest charm offensive. Sharing a candid confession indicates that the corporation is actually aware of the issues in its OS.

Remember, the firm is currently in the midst of a major transformation, targeting enthusiast hot button areas like Windows performance, overhead, and reliability. This drastic pivot was cautiously welcomed in contrast to Microsoft being widely slammed for boasting about Windows “evolving into an agentic OS” last November. Currently, Microsoft seems to be flailing around, trying to stop folks straying to pastures greener like Mac and Linux.

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However, Win32 isn’t inherently labeled as ‘bad’ by the Microsoft CTO. Though it is ancient, it has probably stuck around for good reason. “I think one of the reasons it’s got this staying power is just a fundamental layer inside of Windows that so many apps have built on,” notes Russinovich. “So many technologies and ecosystems have been built on top of it that it’s kind of a bedrock.”

The CTO explains that Win32 has persisted even when facing targeted existential threats from within Microsoft, particularly in the Windows 8 era. “There’s been various times in Microsoft’s history where we thought we’d reboot the Windows API surface, like WinRT, that actually didn’t play out the way a lot of people expected it to.”

In closing, Russinovich highlights that Win32 was also the bedrock for tools like Sysmon and ZoomIt, which he actually wrote back in 1996. These tools are now “more relevant than ever in 2026,” as parts of Windows 11 and PowerToys, respectively, reckons the CTO.

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Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

23 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ezst036
    This is a double edged sword.

    There's so many different and correct ways to look at this that its essentially like 5 or more separate comments in 1.

    That the code is several decades ago speaks to its reliability.

    That the code is so old speaks to the misconception of you using the "new and shiny" latest and greatest that was "recently released".

    That the code is so old speaks to why Linux is eating their lunch performance wise.

    That the code is so old speaks to the mountain of a problem Microsoft is going to have in actually achieving a modernization.

    And lets not forget, MacOS also relies on code probably as equally as old since the current MacOS is basically just a re-skinned NeXT. That's all that Steve Jobs did. He had the devs put new makeup on NeXTSTEP.

    And Linux is surely the same. Torvalds created the kernel decades ago and the FSF's GCC isn't exactly a spring chicken.

    There isn't anything wrong at all with old code if it remains the "newest and greatest". It is still the best because the best has in fact been achieved.

    I'll tell you what though. Microsoft's built in adware functions are not 30 years old. That is much, much newer. So goes their priorities right? Don't update their old code but hey you know what we can and will spy on you!
    Reply
  • Eximo
    If they could just unbundle sound volume from WiFi/Bluetooth/Power that would solve my biggest pet peeve with Windows. If you haven't touched it in a while (which is always) it takes a stupidly long time to open.
    Reply
  • TechieTwo
    It was crap in the 90's and it's even worse crap today. :astonished:
    Reply
  • JamesJones44
    I say this as a Windows hater... It's not uncommon for OS core components to be "ancient". Large parts of the Linux, BSD, etc. kernels had not change much relative to other OS components over large periods of time. That trend has started to change in recent years, largely due to desires of "memory safe" language operation, but being from the 90s doesn't automatically make it "bad" (though the Windows "backbone" is bad IMO).
    Reply
  • nrdwka
    lookings to many modern parts of windows, they better to keep old stuff ...
    Reply
  • mrdoc22
    There's nothing wrong with Win32 API.

    People is forgetting that Win32 API is a programming interface for use of a computer a standard way,
    f.ex. printing you dont have to think about which type printer you are printing to, you just print.

    The problem is the userprogram who is controlling the "Desktop, startmenu, rightclickmenu and settings",
    which they have totaly destroyed.
    Reply
  • Shiznizzle
    Microsoft cant win. The second support is dropped for parallel printers or things of that nature, the public go nuts. It was not so long ago that i saw the windows XP interface at my NHS doctor here in the UK
    Reply
  • TechGuy_93
    Eximo said:
    If they could just unbundle sound volume from WiFi/Bluetooth/Power that would solve my biggest pet peeve with Windows. If you haven't touched it in a while (which is always) it takes a stupidly long time to open.
    Just mouse over the volume icon and scroll
    Reply
  • TechGuy_93
    There's a reason it's all still there. All the new UI garbage they slap on is just a "fancy" way to control the same things... Except that like all things, they strip out essential controls from the new UI and you have to use the legacy ones to actually get stuff done.

    Same goes for their approach in m365 admin. You need to use PowerShell to do several things now that you used to be able to with a single click. because the UI options have been stripped away to "make it cleaner" or "streamlined" or some BS.

    They took something good like they always do and pile on garbage until it barely works and has lost all its core functionality
    Reply
  • QuarterSwede
    JamesJones44 said:
    I say this as a Windows hater... It's not uncommon for OS core components to be "ancient". Large parts of the Linux, BSD, etc. kernels had not change much relative to other OS components over large periods of time. That trend has started to change in recent years, largely due to desires of "memory safe" language operation, but being from the 90s doesn't automatically make it "bad" (though the Windows "backbone" is bad IMO).
    As I understand it, the main difference is that *nix was built to be modular so even the kernel can be updated without really screwing up higher level functions. Windows wasn’t built with the same mentality.

    Windows’ ancient backend will be its undoing. Not sure why they couldn’t add an emulation layer, like Apple has done twice now, to make the transition easier.
    Reply