[naikrovek]

Microsoft didn't even intend to use it for long. developers discovered apis for it and started using it despite it being unsupported at the time.

Microsoft's extreme backwards compatibility decisions have kept it around since then, and now since it is still supported, it is still used.

the registry was first intended to be an internal implementation detail while something better was designed. us hackers ruined that plan, but we're still happy to blame Microsoft for their compatibility promises and our own misuse of the registry.