#479 – Dave Plummer: Programming, Autism, and Old-School Microsoft Stories

Dave Plummer is a programmer, former Microsoft software engineer (Windows 95, NT, XP), creator of Task Manager, author of two books on autism, and host of the Dave’s Garage YouTube channel, where he shares stories from his career, insights on software development, and deep dives into technology.

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EPISODE LINKS:

Dave’s X: https://x.com/davepl1968

Dave’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavesGarage

Dave’s Secondary YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@davepl

Dave’s GitHub: https://github.com/PlummersSoftwareLLC

Dave’s Books: https://amzn.to/41qd5IB

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OUTLINE:

(00:00) – Introduction

(01:14) – Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections

(10:16) – First computer

(15:54) – Dropping out of high-school

(23:35) – Joining Microsoft

(25:47) – MS-DOS

(28:59) – Windows 95

(35:46) – The man behind Windows

(40:42) – Debugging

(45:59) – Task Manager

(51:08) – 3D Pinball: Space Cadet

(56:07) – Start menu and taskbar

(1:07:06) – Blue Screen of Death

(1:09:15) – Best programmers

(1:17:16) – Scariest time of Dave’s life

(1:24:44) – Best Windows version

(1:26:34) – Slot machines

(1:30:17) – Autism and ADHD

(1:49:37) – Fastest programming language

(1:53:42) – Future of programming

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