Microsoft denies rewriting Windows 11 in Rust using AI

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Context and Initial Reactions

  • Many find it telling that Microsoft had to publicly deny “rewriting Windows 11 in Rust with AI”; the idea feels absurd yet plausible enough given current AI hype and Microsoft’s reputation for missteps.
  • Others argue people over-read a single bombastic LinkedIn recruiting post and treated it as corporate strategy.

Scope: Personal Goal vs Company Mandate

  • The original post framed “eliminate every line of C/C++ from Microsoft by 2030” as the author’s goal, not an official directive.
  • Some note that a distinguished engineer is influential, but still not equivalent to a company-wide mandate from top leadership.
  • There’s confusion between “my goal” and the follow-up denial that Windows is being rewritten in Rust, which some see as backpedaling.

“1 Engineer, 1 Month, 1 Million LOC”

  • Interpreted by many as: one engineer overseeing AI that rewrites 1M lines/month.
  • Widely criticized as meaningless sloganry and “executive marketing math,” ignoring review, debugging, and integration.
  • Several point out that producing code without reading it is inherently dangerous, especially at that scale.

AI-Driven Rust Rewrite: Technical Skepticism

  • Critics highlight key differences between:
    • Bumping a compiler version (deterministic, standardized) and
    • Translating C/C++ to Rust via LLMs (non-deterministic, semantic mismatches, different memory models).
  • Concerns: massive review burden, security bugs from LLM-generated code, and limited ability to automatically prove semantic equivalence.

Testing, Quality, and Microsoft’s Trajectory

  • Commenters recall Microsoft cutting dedicated testers and describe increasing regressions in Windows.
  • Some argue Windows once prided itself on extreme backward compatibility, but that commitment has weakened.
  • This history makes a huge AI rewrite sound “batshit” to many, given already-strained review and testing capacity.

Rust, Hype, and Broader Ecosystem

  • Rust-in-kernels is generally seen as sensible; wholesale high-speed porting is not.
  • Debate over whether Rust’s broader adoption is “inevitable” vs just another optimistic prediction.
  • Separate frustrations target web-tech bloat (Electron, JS/TS everywhere), rising RAM use in Windows components, and a perceived decline in “native” systems programmers, feeding a broader narrative of Microsoft losing its edge.