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Which came first, Windows 95's taskbar or NeXT's Dock? Neither
Winsage
September 4, 2026

Which came first, Windows 95’s taskbar or NeXT’s Dock? Neither

The tech community recently celebrated the 31st anniversary of Windows 95, sparking discussions about its design influences, particularly regarding the potential British roots of its interface. Former Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer's post on X led to exchanges among ex-Microsoft employees, including Joe Belfiore, who clarified that the Windows taskbar was not inspired by the NeXT dock but rather by developments from the Cairo team, specifically a persistent "tray" for file transfers. The debate references Paul Fellows, who led the Arthur project at Acorn, which introduced the first "icon bar" in 1987, influencing both NeXTstep and Windows. Acorn's Arthur, initially a BASIC demo, became RISC OS by 1989, maintaining its foundational design elements. The timeline shows that Acorn's icon bar predated NeXTstep's dock and the Windows taskbar, with Windows 2.0 and OS/2 1.1 released in late 1987 and 1988, respectively, showing visual similarities to NeXTstep. The Microsoft Cairo project, which ran from 1991 to 1996, coincided with Windows NT 4 development. The Windows 95 taskbar and NeXT's dock served different functions, but their historical context is significant.
Playing Minecraft on a receipt printer: YouTuber reaches the Ender Dragon and goes viral
AppWizard
November 30, 2025

Playing Minecraft on a receipt printer: YouTuber reaches the Ender Dragon and goes viral

A YouTuber transformed Minecraft into a physical gaming experience by using a custom-built application that renders the game in grayscale and sends screenshots to a printer at a frame rate of 0.5 to 1 frame per second. To manage the printed material, the YouTuber created a paper roller from K'NEX pieces. Players experience a two-second delay, and visuals are simplified to rough outlines, with inventory often appearing as a solid black blur. The YouTuber, known as Smill, successfully reached the Ender Dragon with guidance from speedrunners Johnny A. and Fulham. The project has received mixed reactions from the gaming community, with some praising its inventiveness and others questioning the authenticity of the gameplay experience.
Google is preparing to make Android Settings a bit more colorful
AppWizard
April 18, 2025

Google is preparing to make Android Settings a bit more colorful

Google is set to transform its Settings homepage in the upcoming Android 16 beta, introducing colorful icons encased in circles, replacing the current gray icons. This redesign aims to enhance the expressiveness of the Settings app and is expected to align with a new Material Design theme at the Google I/O developer conference. The colorful icons may not appear in the initial stable release of Android 16 but could be introduced in a future quarterly update or in Android 17 next year. The 'Digital Wellbeing & parental controls' entry will retain its gray icon due to its origin from a separate app. Feedback from users will influence the final design.
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