Comment Feed for Channel 9 - Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee http://ecn.channel9.msdn.com/o9/previewImages/100/109000_100x75.jpg Channel 9 - Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee Marc McDonald is Microsoft's first employee. Hired back in 1976. We recently caught up with him and talk about the old days at Microsoft as well as what he's doing on the Windows Vista team (he's working on defect prevention).Funny story. He left Microsoft in 1984 because Microsoft had gotten "too big." Microsoft's size at that point? A few hundred employees. (He came back after Microsoft bought the company he worked for). en Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:49:05 GMT Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:49:05 GMT Rev9 Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee posted by charlieM

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618118930000000 Thu, 08 Sep 2005 21:31:33 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618118930000000 charlieM Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee posted by scobleizer

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618130930000000 Thu, 08 Sep 2005 21:51:33 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618130930000000 scobleizer Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee Great interview!

That one deserves an Emmy.

Cool to see that he designed the FAT file data structures back in the days of 8" floppies.

Does he know the famous "Mark Z" from the EXE file format?

fyi: The first 2 bytes of a DOS/Windows EXE file are ascii MZ.
MZ are the initals of the Microsoft programmer (Mark Z-something) that developed the EXE binary format.

posted by BigDataDev

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618348470000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 03:54:07 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618348470000000 BigDataDev Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee

posted by jkipk

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618373120000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 04:35:12 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618373120000000 jkipk Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee posted by McDonald

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618394480000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 05:10:48 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618394480000000 McDonald Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee The Z stands for Zbikowski Smiley

posted by sriram_2001

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618428230000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 06:07:03 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618428230000000 sriram_2001 Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee posted by McDonald

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618439090000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 06:25:09 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618439090000000 McDonald Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee
McDonald wrote:
Sure I know Z. He came on after we were back up in Seattle for a couple of years. He's a comparitive newbie except he stayed at MS while I left.


And Gee, I started in '84 Smiley

Btw, ran into Jim Lane in the airport a couple of weeks ago, he's doing well (although I think he's even taller than he was when I last saw him).  He's working at another startup doing something with embedded stuff.

posted by LarryOsterman

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618743580000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 14:52:38 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618743580000000 LarryOsterman Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee
I love the interviews like this, where you just get a person who has a lot to say and just let him 'go on' you get alot of intresting stuff out of it.

I would have to say i'm in Marc's style of thinking, make something around the user and don't worry about features unless it adds something really valuable to the experience. And also his thinking about other peoples ideas that are good.

And made me think about the iPod shuffle aswell, and a great bit about giving credit due where credit is due, I think alot of people inside and outside of Microsoft forget that.

posted by BenZila

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618756300000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 15:13:50 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618756300000000 BenZila Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee
Still waiting to find out about Larry's new audio feature though Big Smile

posted by dentaku

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618871180000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 18:25:18 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618871180000000 dentaku Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee LarryOsterman wrote: Btw, ran into Jim Lane in the airport a couple of weeks ago, he's doing well (although I think he's even taller than he was when I last saw him).  He's working at another startup doing something with embedded stuff.
84? You arrived when I left. I haven't seen Jim since I left Microsoft.

posted by McDonald

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618882600000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 18:44:20 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618882600000000 McDonald Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee
LarryOsterman wrote:
McDonald wrote:Sure I know Z. He came on after we were back up in Seattle for a couple of years. He's a comparitive newbie except he stayed at MS while I left.


And Gee, I started in '84

Btw, ran into Jim Lane in the airport a couple of weeks ago, he's doing well (although I think he's even taller than he was when I last saw him).  He's working at another startup doing something with embedded stuff.


Got 2 golden oldies on the site [A]

posted by BenZila

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618890780000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 18:57:58 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618890780000000 BenZila Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee
BenZila wrote:
Great interview. I love the interviews like this, where you just get a person who has a lot to say and just let him 'go on' you get alot of intresting stuff out of it. I would have to say i'm in Marc's style of thinking, make something around the user and don't worry about features unless it adds something really valuable to the experience. And also his thinking about other peoples ideas that are good. And made me think about the iPod shuffle aswell, and a great bit about giving credit due where credit is due, I think alot of people inside and outside of Microsoft forget that.


I love them too. It'd be fun to get Marc and Larry in a room and just roll tape.

posted by scobleizer

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618915540000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 19:39:14 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618915540000000 scobleizer Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee
Did Bill G know about it?

posted by BigDataDev

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618949170000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 20:35:17 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632618949170000000 BigDataDev Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee I remember an interview on C9 with a guy who I believe invented the laser printer?
He was quite interesting.

Also: I could listen to Bill Hill forever (I don't know how old he is but he's not "young")

posted by dentaku

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632619041540000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 23:09:14 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632619041540000000 dentaku Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee
I'm gonna try to get Gordon Bell to give me a tour around the Computer History Museum he started. That'd be awesome.

posted by scobleizer

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632619058270000000 Fri, 09 Sep 2005 23:37:07 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632619058270000000 scobleizer Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee
This was the best hour I have spent!  Marc talks about the importance of focusing on customer needs.  No wonder Microsoft is what it is today, built on these kinds of values.

Incredible stuff.

posted by DanPeay

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632619300820000000 Sat, 10 Sep 2005 06:21:22 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632619300820000000 DanPeay Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee
I have about a million things I want to talk to you about, so when I'm in redmond, I hope I get the chance Smiley well, I imagine your on main campus so it can't be that far if we hooked up!

will my questions ever get answered?  How do I find this stuff out!  I'm reading the Art of Assembly, hoping some get answered there - but I want to hear about those assemblers  - that was insane - I had to watch the video about 5 times just to get a fraction of what was going on.

posted by Nata1

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632619568780000000 Sat, 10 Sep 2005 13:47:58 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632619568780000000 Nata1 Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee Robert/Marc:

Best.  Video. Ever.

Well, for me at least.

6502...NOP's...P-Code...

Rapture!

Finally, somebody else who understands the "NOP" opcode (that's "EA" in hex) and remembers the 6502. LOL.  On the 8 inch floppies...hopefully you didn't store any of your early ideas on Elephant disks.  Their slogan was something like "never forgets"...yet they were one of the worst disks at retaining data.

Translations and lost information: I agree.  I see this all the time because I deal with a legal department, management, running reports, building web sites and building databases.  Things get lost between people, between layers of software, and on and on.  You'd be amazed at what gets lost on the telephone, between departments, and on some people's desks.  Then, comes the software loss.  I've spent so much time trying to explain all this to people at work it is not even funny.

So many times it isn't the software's fault.  It was the way they phrased their request for information.  Or, one of their staff entered something wrong into the database.  It's like they can't believe people still makes typos or something.

By the way, jumps and JSR commands cost three bytes on the Apple II.  That's:

JMP $C600 (reboots your computer): $4C 00 C6
JSR $FC58 (clears out the text screen): $20 58 FC

I thought the use of space discussion was great...I remember this very clearly and not a lot of developers/end users get this nowadays.  I remember writing tiny utilities in the space between $300 and $3D0.  That's 208 bytes.  It forces you to be incredibly resourceful.  There is so much untapped potential on the PC nowadays and I guess I'm still one of those people who wants to return those roots.

posted by jsrfc58

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632619697470000000 Sat, 10 Sep 2005 17:22:27 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632619697470000000 jsrfc58 Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee posted by scobleizer

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632619889760000000 Sat, 10 Sep 2005 22:42:56 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632619889760000000 scobleizer Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee
I remember 6502 Assembly - I did some of it in the first semester of my first year at uni (I'm just about to start my third year - tomorrow). As it was so different to the higher level stuff that I'm used to, I did find it difficult to work with at times, but I began to understand it more as I went along. I guess the most annoying thing I found with it was that you only had two registers. I guess some of you who have more experience with it would have no problem though.

I want to learn 8086 sometime - I printed off a tutorial ages ago because I definitely see things like speed and efficiency advantages. Does anyone recommend any tools and/or books that I might want to look at?

posted by Pimp Daddy

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632620746070000000 Sun, 11 Sep 2005 22:30:07 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632620746070000000 Pimp Daddy Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee posted by jorgen_veisdal

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632620773630000000 Sun, 11 Sep 2005 23:16:03 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632620773630000000 jorgen_veisdal Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee
You posted on the Marc McDonald thread that you are writting a high level assembler.  I developed cross assemblers and compilers. Put up a bit of information on my web site.  It might be of interest to you.

<http://www.greenhills.net/~apatter/slic.html>

The initial concepts came from work done at SDC in the 60's.  CWIC Compiler for Writting and Implementing Compilers.  I implemented the syntax and generator language of CWIC with some changes and added the the back end PSEUDO and MACHOP languages to target diferant platforms.  CWIC is designed and ran on a IBM 360.  With SLIC's MACHOP language machin code is defined in a bit addressable memor space. I don't have all of the PSEUDO and MACHOP documentation online. But you can contact me if needed.



posted by Andy Patterson

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632630985060000000 Fri, 23 Sep 2005 18:55:06 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632630985060000000 Andy Patterson Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee It's people like Marc that actually make me feel less cynical about the underlying intentions of Microsoft as a giant global conglomerate. I was fascinated that his entire work model was based solely on the customer, which is really important because we are likely to see much higher quality software from Microsoft in coming years. I think the user-centric idea is one that is universally applicable because at the end of the day its the users/customers that keep companies in business.

Fantastic interview, Robert.

posted by greasywog87

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632637821250000000 Sat, 01 Oct 2005 16:48:45 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632637821250000000 greasywog87 Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee // Chris
cmahlke@post.harvard.edu

posted by cmm

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632660254340000000 Thu, 27 Oct 2005 15:57:14 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632660254340000000 cmm Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee Awesome!
It's cool to see the guy is still with microsoft and was not out-dated.  I spent many an hour looking over a lot of his implementations in the early 80's  kudos!Big Smile

posted by CCoder32

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632727718620000000 Fri, 13 Jan 2006 17:57:42 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632727718620000000 CCoder32 Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee Great listening to Marc talk about the old days.  He's clearly very gifted.

posted by BushidoSoftware

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632852094210000000 Tue, 06 Jun 2006 16:50:21 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c632852094210000000 BushidoSoftware Re: Marc McDonald - Microsoft's First Employee First time back to the forum in a few years, only the first page of comments are left. Someone asked way back in 2005 whether I blogged. Well, I decided to give it a shot and see where it goes. The blog is http://onsoftwhere.com

 

posted by McDonald

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c634076048200000000 Fri, 23 Apr 2010 07:33:40 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/scobleizer/Marc-McDonald-Microsofts-First-Employee#c634076048200000000 McDonald