I have a collection of files from the late ´90s and early ´00s. Many of them are .JPG, .MP3, .WAV, instead of .jpg, .mp3, and .wav. Why was that the norm at the time? I usually just change the extension myself.

  • blackbeans@lemmy.zip
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    3 days ago

    Long filenames were introduced in Windows 95. It was done by means of an extension to the filesystem (VFAT). The long filenames were preserved when you copied it to another computer but didn’t show up when you used older DOS versions.

    • ChicoSuave@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      I wonder if that’s why computers started using longer words and phrases for programs. The grumpy old man that lives in my in head gets ranting during these moments.

      “Back in my day all we had were short names like startup, system, and exit. Now it’s all control panel, system settings, hardware managers. And apps! They’re called them executables!”