For many years thin glasses of chalcogenide vitreous semiconductors were and remain now as one of basic materials of recording media in information carriers for optical information recording systems. To create the first specimens of WORM optical disks the processes of photothermal recording on thin chalcogenide films with a high content of tellurium were widely used. In disk carriers we used 35‐nm thick eutectic Te14Se61Ge15Sb10 alloy films. Information recording was made by (80‐20)‐ns duration pulses. Researches of recorded disks performed in 25 years showed that the shape and sizes of pits were not practically changed, content of oxygen increased insignificantly in a subsurface layer. Thin films of chalcogenide vitreous semiconductors can be considered as promising material for optical carriers suitable for long‐term information storage. As shown by the performed researches, positive inorganic photoresists allow to create relief images with the minimal sizes of 0.15‐0.20 μm at recording radiation at wavelength 405 nm, which enables to make stampers for DVD replication from them. The positive inorganic photoresist films have a sufficiently wide dynamic range. More promising is the use of negative inorganic photoresists that allow to create relief images on nickel substrates, i.e., technology of direct mastering is being realized (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)