Rating: 
Summary: Great book!
Review: It's really a wonderful book! If you are a software developer trying to figure out how the big projects are done, or if you are just someone who is trying to figure out what is inside a software developer mind, go and read it.For software developer:
Don't forget, it's a book written by a non-technical person. Sometimes, the writer tries with no success to explain the difference between C and C++, the function of the memory manager and other ones. The first chapter of the book is just terrible. He starts telling the NT's manager history, since he was a child. But don't give up. The book will get really interesting after the second chapter. For software developer relatives:
Want to understand why your husband stays working until late hours? Want to figure out why most programmers think they are the best human beings alive? Read this book. I hope you can understand us reading this. I'm still trying to make my wife read this. :-)
Rating: 
Summary: Behind the scenes
Review: Just about everybody uses Microsoft software, but how does it get written? This book tells all. The entire process of creating Windows NT is reviewed in this work. Good for the curious. The technical language is minimal and well explained, although it's not dumbed down--
techie types like me should get along just fine. It's not a business-centric book, if you're looking for that (or looking to avoid it).
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, if you like Windows NT and Software development.
Review: This book has given me such a wonderful reading time. I love each unique character in th book. How they managed to get together and create a great Operating System. The team leader, Cutler, is a strong character and he is the glue to bind the NT development team together. If you read this book, you wouldn't be disappoint!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, if you like Windows NT and Software development.
Review: This book has given me such a wonderful reading time. I love each unique character in th book. How they managed to get together and create a great Operating System. The team leader, Cutler, is a strong character and he is the glue to bind the NT development team together. If you read this book, you wouldn't be disappoint!
Rating:
Summary: Showstopper - The Most Excellent Microsoft Adventure
Review: This book is a brilliant picture of the true Microsoft; hot, dedicated, goal-oriented, clever, and 21st century. Showstopper is one of the best journalistic works of the cyber-industry. I literally give this book as gifts to friends and associates so they can understand the mind of a computer professional. P. Zachary is one of the few bright stars in the computer industry who can explain in simple terms the truth about intellectuals who live in a world called cyber-space. Read this book if you read no other book in the year 2000. I know this book is accurate, I loved every minute I worked in the environment called P. Zacary calls Microsoft. Read this book about Windows NT and learn why Microsoft will number one for years to come.
Rating: 
Summary: Little useful software development/project management info
Review: This book is well written but a terrible disappointment. I bought it hoping to gain some insight into the cause and magnitudes of the problems that occurred during Windows NT 3.1 development. Considering the 312 page length, this book should have contained a lot more than a rambling somewhat technical story. For example, there is hardly more than one page of information pertaining to Win NT 3.1 development cost, schedule and performance information, and that is scattered throughout the book. There is not one graphic in the entire book and just a few informal tables that are simple text entries. The author obviously had access to the key Microsoft players, yet doesn't even provide a clear picture of when NT 3.1 development started, what the initial projected development cost was, what quantitative performance requirements existed, and what measures were used to track code performance during devlopment. This is simply a story--I really don't care much to learn that a code tester left Microsoft with $250K to buy a Laundromat for his family (pp. 268-269) when there is not a chapter devoted to evaluating the development project and another on key lessons learned. This book was a big waste of money. Oh yes--my background: Two PhDs (including one in engineering), 30 years of on-again/off-again software coding, and 25 years project management experience, etc.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable reading for NT administrators and developers alike
Review: This book presents an entertaining account of how the first version of Windows NT was developed. It tells the "story of NT," how it was created and the personalities of the people behind it. It isn't a technical book and it doesn't try to be one -- its purpose is to entertain, not to inform. Even so, anyone who works with NT on a regular basis ought to read this book -- it will lead you to appreciate NT as a human achievement as well as a technical one. When Windows 2000 is released, NT will become Microsoft's flagship operating system. This fact makes Zachary's book all the more worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: You get a feel for how it's done.....
Review: This is a fast read in a very casual style. It doesn't cover any code, but gives you a feel for the characters that come together to accomplish large projects. For anyone who uses this stuff in their PC, it's a worthwhile read.
Rating: 
Summary: A great opportunity turned bad
Review: When I purchased this book I didn't expect it to cater to a professional software developer. However, I didn't expect it be so superficial. The author had a serious dilemma which he failed to solve. He tried to write a book that would be readable by general audience. Unfortunately, if you write about software development process there are only two ways you can do it: either get into the details or end up with a melodramatic style describing feelings of characters involved. This book chose the latter one. It is a wide misconception that serious book about software development process can only be read by people working in the field. In fact one of the best books on the subject is Fred Brooks's "The mythical men-month" and it is perfectly readable. I hoped the showstopper book would take the very same approach. Instead, the book is extremely superficial - some 70% of the text is insights into personal lives of people involved and description of their "feelings." As interesting as it can be, this is not what I wanted to read. Coupled with endless explanations of what the operating system is and what bugs are, this makes a boring reading. To conclude: don't. If you want a good book on the process get "The mythical man-month". If you want a book on Microsoft practices, get a book called "Microsoft Secrets". It definitely contains more information on the history of NT development than this one.
Rating:
Summary: The book that describes the turning point for Microsoft
Review: Windows NT took Microsoft from a desktop OS and gave it the foothold into the enterprise computing arena. This is the account of the energy, sweat and the shear drive of David Cutler and his team of Digital Equipment Corps expatriates who combined with the Microsoft team, made the initial embyronic version of NT that helped cement Microsoft into a formidable force in the marketplace. If you study Microsoft as an organization, if you administer Windows NT as your profession, if you just want a good a book, this is your choice.
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