One Dev Question with Larry Osterman - What's the story behind the burgermaster object in windows?
The 'One Dev Question with Larry Osterman' video series is part of the One Dev Minute channel. In this series, longtime Microsoft developer Larry Osterman covers a series of questions about Microsoft Windows development, team culture, and/or history. If you have additional questions for Larry, please add your questions in the comments section below. You can follow Larry on Twitter at @osterman.
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What's the story behind the Burgermaster object in Windows
and why did it have that name?
So...
When we built Windows,
we were in a Building 1070 Northup Way, in Bellevue
And right next to it was a drive-in restaurant
called the Burgermaster. It's still there.
It's a great restaurant.
Anyway, the Windows developers
ate there a lot.
Actually, people ate there so much
that the restaurant was on speed dial.
So you dial star 0069
or 70 or some number
and you'd be connected to the Burgermaster
and you could order your dinner,
then run down the hill to the Burgermaster,
grab your food and then bring it back to work
and then continue working.
To commemorate the importance of the Burgermaster restaurant
on the Windows team-- to the Windows team,
the first object in the global atom table
was named Burgermaster,
because atoms were named and they had to give it a name
and they chose the name Burgermaster.
It's sort of a little bit of an Easter egg.
Since it was never actually seen by anything in the product,
the name didn't actually matter,
but the name was there
and the name stuck nonetheless.
I think the Burgermaster's been gone since...
..probably Windows 95, Windows NT.
I don't think it actually survived the transition,
but...
..people still remember the Burgermaster
with great fondness.
