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Hardcore Software by Steven Sinofsky

hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com

Personal stories and lessons from inside the rise and fall of the PC revolution. Click to read Hardcore Software by Steven Sinofsky, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.

Computing historyEngineering management / careersAI / ML

’21’22’23’24’25’26
Posts
165 from 28 Jan 2021 to 29 Sep 2026
Posting
monthly (9 in the last year)
Kind
personal blog
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https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/feed

2026 7

  1. 243. Government(s) Controlling AI Sounds Safer, But…
  2. 242. Armageddon by Anthropomorphism: On Security and the Frontier
  3. 241. Distillation Is Not Anti-American, Weaponizing It Is
  4. 240. Banning AI in Law School: We've Seen This Before
  5. 239. Mac Neo and my afternoon of reflection and melancholy
  6. 238. Death of Software. Nah.
  7. 237. CES 2026 – “The Future Is Here” and “Innovators Show Up” #CES2026

2025 11

  1. 236. Somaliland in the News. A look back at this innovative country.
  2. 2025 Books: Reading, Learning, Thinking (235)
  3. 234. If Writing is Thinking…
  4. 233. "The Illusion of Thinking" — Thoughts on This Important Paper
  5. 232. From Typewriters to Transformers: AI is Just the Next Tools Abstraction
  6. 231. When It Comes to Tariffs, China is Different
  7. 230. MCP - It's Hot, But Will It Win?
  8. 229. "Tech Goes Hardcore" ... Again.
  9. 228. DeepSeek Has Been Inevitable and Here's Why (History Tells Us)
  10. 227. CES 2025: An Abundance of (AI) Experimentation
  11. Remembering Mike Maples, Sr.

2024 13

  1. 225. Systems Ideas that Sound Good But Almost Never Work—"Let's just…"
  2. 224. Books to Read and Gift (2024 EoY Edition)
  3. 223. On the Toll of Being a Disruptor
  4. 222. Automating Processes with Software is HARD
  5. 221. Using AI for School is NOT Cheating
  6. 220. Are AI Expectations Too High or Misplaced?
  7. 219. On AI Requiring a New OS
  8. 218. Announcing: Hardcore Software, the Print Edition
  9. 217. Doing a UX/API Redesign? Here are 12 Rules of Thumb
  10. 216. United States v. Apple (Complaint)
  11. 215. Building Under Regulation
  12. [214.] Hello. Happy Anniversary Macintosh!
  13. 213. CES 2024: Builders, Makers, Risk-Takers

2023 13

  1. 212. Books to Read and Gift (2023)
  2. 211. Regulating AI by Executive Order is the Real AI Risk
  3. 210: It's (Not Necessarily) Fair to Mock Apple's "Mother Nature" Video
  4. 209. Proclaiming Failure for Social Credit
  5. 208. Ultimate Guide to Platforms
  6. 207. When a Business Pleads to be Regulated
  7. 206. On Congressional Hearings On Artificial Intelligence (May 2023)
  8. 205. Regulating AI: Is being proactive now the right first step?
  9. 204. Predictions: 101 Ways to Save Apple (June 1997)
  10. 203. Software As Part of Everything Is Regulated…As Part of Everything
  11. 202. AI/ChatGPT and the Race Between Microsoft and Google to Win Samsung Mobile Search
  12. 201. Does your company serve "weenies" or "shrimp"?
  13. 200. Writing (Serializing) a Book on Substack

2022 54

  1. 109. Curated Bibliography
  2. 108. The End of the PC Revolution [Epilogue]
  3. 107. Click In With Surface
  4. 106. The Missing Start Menu
  5. 105. New Ultrabooks, Old Office, and the Big Consumer Preview
  6. Join my new subscriber chat
  7. 104. //build It and They Will Come (Hopefully)
  8. Bonus: Windows 8 Launch October 26, 2012
  9. 103. The End of Windows Software
  10. 102. The Experience
  11. 101. Reimagining Windows from the Chipset to the Experience: The Chipset [Ch. XV]
  12. 100. A Daring and Bold Vision
  13. 099. The Magical iPad
  14. 098. A Sea of Worry at the Consumer Electronics Show
  15. 097. A Plan for a Changing World [Ch. XIV]
  16. BONUS: Innovation in the Context of Success (An Essay)
  17. 096. Ultraseven (Launching Windows 7)
  18. 095. Welcome to Windows 7, Everyone
  19. 094. First Public Windows 7 Demo
  20. 093. Netbook Mania
  21. 092. Platform Disruption…While Building Windows 7 [Ch. XIII]
  22. 091. Cleaning Up Longhorn and Vista
  23. 090. I’m a Mac
  24. 089. Rebooting the PC Ecosystem
  25. 088. Planning the Most Important Windows Ever
  26. BONUS: Guest Post on History of Engineering Excellence at Microsoft
  27. 087. Reorg! Why Are We Together, Exactly?
  28. BONUS: Avoiding Escalation in Decision-Making
  29. 086. The Memo (Part 2)
  30. 085. The Memo (Part 1)
  31. 084. How Many On the Team, Exactly?
  32. 083. Living the Odd-Even Curse [Ch. XII]
  33. 082. Defying Conventional Wisdom to Finish Office
  34. 081. First Feedback and a Surprise
  35. 080. Progress From Vision to Beta
  36. 079. Competing Designs, Better Design
  37. 078. A Tour of “Ye Olde Museum Of Office Past”
  38. 077. What Is Software Bloat, Really?
  39. 076. Chasing The Low-End Product [Ch. XI. Betting Big to Fend Off Commoditization]
  40. 075. Scaling and Transitions
  41. 074. Outlook Pride, Finally
  42. 073. **DO NOT FORWARD**
  43. 072. Notes on Tablet PC Innovation
  44. 071. Resolving NetDocs v. Office
  45. 070. Office.NOT
  46. 069. Mega-Scale, Mega-Complexity [Ch. X]
  47. 068. The XP eXPerience
  48. 067. MYR-CDG: Product Meets Sales
  49. 066. Killing a Killer Feature In Outlook, Again
  50. 065. SharePoint: Office Builds Our Own Server
  51. 064. The Start of Office v. NetDocs
  52. 063. Managing the Antitrust Verdict
  53. 062. Split Up Microsoft
  54. 061. BSoD to Watson: The Reliability Journey

2021 67

  1. 060. ILOVEYOU
  2. 059. Scaling…Everything
  3. 058. Synergy
  4. 057. Enterprise Agreements [Ch. IX]
  5. 056. Going Global . . . Mother Tree
  6. 055. Office 2000 is Good to Go!
  7. 054. Steve and Steven Get New Jobs
  8. BONUS: Competing with Lotus Notes
  9. 053. Strategy Tax: Outlook Storage, First Attempt
  10. 052. Alleviating Bloatware, First Attempt
  11. 051. HTML: Opportunity, Disruption, or Wedge
  12. 050. The Team's Plan in the Face of Disruption
  13. 049. Go Get This Rock
  14. 048. Pizza for 20 Million People
  15. 047. Don’t Ship the Org Chart
  16. 046. Prioritizing a New Type of Customer [Ch. VIII]
  17. 045. Incompatible Files, Slipping, Office 97 RTM
  18. 044. Our First Big M&A Deal (Beating Netscape)
  19. 043. DIM Outlook
  20. 042. Clippy, The F*cking Clown
  21. 041. Scaling the Office Infrastructure and Platform
  22. 040. Creating the First Real Office [Ch. VII]
  23. 039. Start Me Up
  24. 038. Designed for Windows 95
  25. 037. Capone and Email Without Typos
  26. 036. Fancy Wizard and Red Squiggles
  27. 035. Windows 95, August or Bust [Ch. VI]
  28. 034. Office94, Office96
  29. 033. Creating the Office Product Unit, OPU
  30. 032. Winning With the Suite
  31. 031. Synchronizing Windows and Office (the First Time) [Ch. V]
  32. 030. My Performance Review (and an Expense Report)
  33. 029. Telling the Untold Story
  34. 028. Pivotal Offsite
  35. 027. Internet Evangelist
  36. 026. Blue Suede Pumas
  37. 025. Trapped
  38. 024. Discovering “Cornell is WIRED!” [Ch. IV]
  39. 023. ThinkWeeks
  40. 022. Injecting New Ideas and IQ: The Information Superhighway
  41. Bonus: The Journey of the EMS and NT Directory
  42. 021. Expanding Breadth versus Coherency: The EMS Project
  43. 020. Innovation versus Shipping: The Cairo Project
  44. 019. BillG the Manager
  45. 018. Microsoft’s Two Bountiful Gardens
  46. 017. Eyes On Competition, Architecture, and Whitespace
  47. 016. Filling the Void Left by IBM
  48. 015. Every Group Is Screwed Up
  49. 014. Executing on the Expansive Vision of Bill Gates [Ch. III]
  50. 013. End of the Beginning
  51. 012. I Shipped, Therefore I Am
  52. 011. A Strategy for the '90s: Windows
  53. 010. Our BillG Review
  54. 009. Password is 'NeXTStep'
  55. 008. Competing With Steve Jobs (the First Time) [Ch. II]
  56. 007. Windows 3.0 Buzz
  57. 006. Zero Defects
  58. 005. Keeping Busy with Cross-Platform OOP
  59. 004. Everything Is Buggy
  60. 003. Klunder College
  61. 002. SteveSi
  62. 001. Becoming a Microsoftie [Ch. I]
  63. Prologue. Becoming a Hacker
  64. Author's Note
  65. Table of Contents
  66. Introducing "Hardcore Software"
  67. In Our Memories…