Dave Plummer: Programming, Autism, and Old-School Microsoft Stories | Lex Fridman Podcast #479

I remember stumbling upon Dave’s channel when it was very new. I was so excited that someone like him was willing to share his knowledge on here

Great discussion! I joined Microsoft in June 1985 and I was working on MS-DOS 6.x when I hired Dave as a summer intern in 1993. He got an incredible amount of work done that summer, and I was bragging to Bill Gates about him at that summer intern party at Bill's home (in Seattle, before he moved into his big new home in Medina). One comment on Dave's comments: The NT team was supposed to be building "OS/2 3.0" when BillG hired DaveC, but after the IBM divorce in 1990, the NT team focused on Windows, so there was no OS/2 code in NT. I second the motion for Lex to interview Raymond Chen (coincidentally, I hired Raymond as a summer intern back in the late 1980s to work on 80386 OS/2).

Dave's autism books have helped me a great deal in making sense of my life. I will always be grateful.

Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep479-sa See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. 0:00 - Introduction 1:22 - First computer 7:00 - Dropping out of high-school 14:41 - Joining Microsoft 16:53 - MS-DOS 20:05 - Windows 95 26:52 - The man behind Windows 31:48 - Debugging 37:05 - Task Manager 42:14 - 3D Pinball: Space Cadet 47:13 - Start menu and taskbar 58:12 - Blue Screen of Death 1:00:21 - Best programmers 1:08:22 - Scariest time of Dave's life 1:15:50 - Best Windows version 1:17:40 - Slot machines 1:21:23 - Autism and ADHD 1:40:43 - Fastest programming language 1:44:48 - Future of programming *Transcript:* https://lexfridman.com/dave-plummer-transcript *CONTACT LEX:* *Feedback* - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey *AMA* - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama *Hiring* - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring *Other* - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact *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 *SPONSORS:* To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: *UPLIFT Desk:* Standing desks and office ergonomics. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/uplift_desk-ep479-sa *ZocDoc:* App that helps patients find healthcare providers. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/zocdoc-ep479-sa *Fin:* AI agent for customer service. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/fin-ep479-sa *Allio Capital:* AI-powered investment app that uses global macroeconomic trends. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/allio_capital-ep479-sa *Shopify:* Sell stuff online. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep479-sa

Wow not the crossover I was expecting! Been following Dave's garage for a few years, super cool to see such a programming legend on the show

As a CS major in 1987 who lived through many of the milestones Dave mentioned, I loved this walk down memory lane and a view behind the curtain.

Task Manager is rock solid software. It's software you only use when there are problems, and yet everyone loves it. It's so reliable that my basic test for "is this computer even working" is to see if it can run Task Manager.

(Closing moments) Dave: “wait …. he’s not actually my ‘brother’” 😂

42:07 the Clippy joke was hilarious Lex we all laughed

It's embarrassing how much Dave and I have in common, minus the having a successful career part.