Here is why Microsoft does not hide Easter eggs in Windows anymore

We recently covered the discovery of a new Easter egg in a rather ancient piece of software, namely Office 97. This Easter egg could be triggered through a very convoluted way which surfaced an end-credits screen of sorts, highlighting the personnel involved in the creation of the software, with Clippy (or Clippit) making quirky jokes on the side.

While this discovery delighted many fans, it also begs the question why Microsoft does not engage in "fun" activities like these anymore, especially in its flagship software like Windows which is used by billions of users, including those who will likely enjoy this sort of community-powered activity. There are many reasons behind this, unfortunately.

Trustworthy Computing initiative

Back in 2002, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates launched the Trustworthy Computing (TwC) initiative due to customer backlash regarding Windows security vulnerabilities. The idea behind this campaign was to focus on key areas like security, privacy, reliability, and business integrity. This meant that software should be secure by design, which mandated well-written and documented code that could easily be audited and tested. Since Easter eggs by definition are hidden elements that can be triggered by undocumented actions, the requirement to document all code effectively killed them in many products like Windows and Office. Microsoft still considers TwC an important milestone in advancing the security and reliability of software.

Contracts with governments and federal agencies

Although Microsoft offers slightly varied versions of its software for governments and federal agencies, they largely have the same baselines and primarily differ in terms of security features. Since these are highly sensitive enterprise customers with whom Microsoft signs non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and other contracts regarding reliability of software, the company simply cannot afford to hide unpredictable elements in the software it is selling. Customers like government agencies do not audit every line of code they purchase, so if something unexpected does pop up just because a Microsoft employee thought it would be fun to hide it in a particular software product, it also raises questions about what else may be hidden that potentially violates government regulations. Certain government bodies also require vendors to confirm that no undocumented feature or functionality is present in their products.

Changing programming and testing paradigms

While this is not a particularly new aspect in terms of software development lifecycle, as companies like Microsoft have grown bigger over the years - current headcount is around 225,000 -, it simply also means that there are larger teams working on core products. These include dedicated, large development, testing, auditing, and compliance groups making sure that their products are fit for commercial use. Evolving practices like peer programming, automated testing, and well-defined CI/CD pipelines with better code visibility means that there is relatively little chance of undocumented behavior sneaking through.

On a related note, many of Microsoft's products like Azure are also ISO-certified. The quality-related certifications of this organization require code to be well-documented so any issues can easily be traced back to the root cause.

These are some of the main reasons why Microsoft does not hide Easter eggs in its software products like Windows, Office, and Azure. While they are quite fun to discover, their inherent unpredictability introduces risks and potential compliance violations for unsuspecting customers.

Do you miss Easter eggs in Microsoft products? Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments section below!