[Animats]

And then Microsoft screwed up NT, over Cutler's objections, by putting in crap code from Windows 95 to make it "compatible" with programs that relied on quirks of Windows 95. It took many years to clean up that mess.

(I started with Windows NT 3.51, which was a very nice system. The 16-bit emulation module was entirely optional, and I configured it off. Worked fine, as long as you bought applications certified for NT. In Windows 95, 16-bit mode was an integral part of the system, and kludges such as 16-32 bit thunking were added so that the two modes were not so distinct.)

[mwcampbell]

Did any of that crap code from Windows 95 go in the kernel, or was it just in user space?

[Animats]

A lot of it went into the kernel for Windows XP. It took until Windows 7 to clean up the mess inside.

[limeyx]

They moved the entire graphics subsystem into kernel because it was "too slow" in user mode

[Animats]

Yes. Then Microsoft hired Mark Russinovich, the guy who ran "ntinternals.com" and demonstrated it wasn't too slow, to shut him up.[1]

[1] http://windowsitpro.com/windows-server/did-microsoft-shut-do...