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Build 's name was displayed as " onghornLay rofessionalPay ersionVay " Pig Latin for Longhorn Professional Version in various places around the operating system. While some had presumed that screenshots of this build were fake because of this seemingly obvious mistake, Microsoft later explained that this was merely a test of some new code to locate and reduce the number of places in the operating system code that the name was defined. Build Milestone 6 compile; build date of June 29, was similar to the Milestone 5 compile of build with minor improvements.

Build build date of July 17, was similar to both Milestone 5 and 6 compiles of build , but contained some UI improvements, including an updated Plex theme. Build build date of August 27, was leaked on August 22, This was the last build to contain the Plex visual style. Build Milestone 6 compile; build date of September 5, was leaked on January 23, , and is similar to build It was compiled four days before the first known Milestone 7 build, thus grouping it as a Milestone 6 build. Build Milestone 7 compile; build date of September 9, was probably the earliest build to have the Slate theme Lab06 instead of the Plex theme winmain seen in the previous builds.

However, the Aero glass from Build was still present. The word "My" was removed from "Computer" and "Network Places", a change that carried over to the final version of the operating system. When Windows Sidebar was enabled, the word "Start" was removed from the Start button—a development used later in Windows Vista.

Build build date of September 28, was shown at TechEd in Israel and was one of the many numbered builds used in Microsoft demos, notably in the Professional Developers Conference. Build build date of October 1, is the build that was given to the attendees of the PDC show. It was leaked on October 20, , seven days before the start of the conference.

It introduced the Slate theme, which debuted in This build also contained an updated version of Internet Explorer with a version number of 6. New features noted by reviewers included a Download Manager, pop-up blocker, add-on manager and a tool to clear browsing history. Build build date of October 22, was leaked on March 2, , and had some minor changes. Build build date of February 26, was a build that, although identified itself as a "Server" build, contained many of the features only ever seen and associated with desktop builds.

An updated version of Phodeo was included, as well as the Sidebar, a Mini-Windows Media Player, and associated sidebar tiles, a functioning build of the Desktop Window Manager and the Jade theme. This build also replaced many XP icons with new Longhorn icons, some of which greatly resemble icons in the final version of Vista.

This build was leaked on December 20, The technology, better known by its original code-name of "Palladium", had garnered much criticism from analysts, security specialists, and researchers, and was often cited by advocates of non-Microsoft operating systems as a reason to migrate to their preferred platform. Ross Anderson , for example, published a paper, collating many of these concerns and criticisms as part of a larger analysis on Trusted Computing.

Build idx01 build date of March 12, was a Itanium-only build. Leaked in July This build introduced an improved Jade theme, although the Slate theme was retained and was the default. Also, the font Segoe UI was introduced for the Jade theme. Leaked in May This is also the most familiar pre-reset build. It was the first leaked build to have complete Aero effects in Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer from the Desktop Window Manager ; however, a registry modification was required to extend the effect into the full UI.

Build build date of May 16, was leaked on November 10, Considered highly unstable, including the absence of programs in the Start menu, and driver and installation issues.

Build build date of August 19, was one of the last builds compiled before the development reset. There was also an early version of the. By , it had become obvious to the Windows team at Microsoft that they were losing sight of what needed to be done to complete the next version of Windows and ship it to customers. Internally, some Microsoft employees were describing the Longhorn project as "another Cairo" or "Cairo. NET", referring to the Cairo development project that the company embarked on through the first half of the s, which never resulted in a shipping operating system though nearly all the technologies developed during that time did end up in Windows 95 and Windows NT.

It offered only a limited subset of features planned for Longhorn, in particular fast file searching and integrated graphics and sound processing, but appeared to have impressive reliability and performance compared to contemporary Longhorn builds. In a September 23, front-page article on The Wall Street Journal , Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin , who had overall responsibility for the development and delivery of Windows, explained how development of Longhorn was "crashing into the ground" due in large part to the haphazard methods by which features were introduced and integrated into the core of the operating system without a clear focus on an end-product.

This change, announced internally to Microsoft employees on August 26, , [ citation needed ] began in earnest in September, though it would take several more months before the new development process and build methodology would be used by all of the development teams. Several complaints came from individual developers, and Bill Gates himself, that the new development process was going to be prohibitively difficult to work within. Changes at the build labs also resulted in a period of several months where no builds of Longhorn were leaked onto the Internet.

Build Successive internal builds over several months gradually integrated a lot of the fundamental work that had been done over the previous three years, but with much stricter rules about what code could be brought into the main builds.

Builds and build dates of August 3, and September 27, , respectively, both leaked on January 23, [22] are the other Windows Longhorn builds which also have Windows XP interfaces. For build , the wallpaper is the same as Windows XP but has a bull with long horns. It was the only build from this period that was made available by Microsoft; it was not officially distributed outside of WinHEC, but the build quickly appeared on file-sharing networks. The Aero visual style made its first appearance in this build, and the Desktop Window Manager was present but disabled and hidden by default.

At the keynote presentation, Bill Gates also announced that many of the WinFX developer APIs that were originally planned exclusively for Longhorn was going to be backported to Windows XP and Server and that the final user interfaces for Longhorn would not be seen for a while longer.

Other features such as device-independent resolutions, rasterized icons, virtual folders, and registry virtualization were discussed as well. The debug checked version was leaked in December Build 's closer resemblance to Windows XP than to the prior Longhorn builds from and surprised many, leading well-known Windows enthusiast Paul Thurrott to write: "My thoughts are not positive, not positive at all.

This is a painful build to have to deal with after a year of waiting, a step back in some ways. I hope Microsoft has surprises up their sleeves. This has the makings of a train wreck.

Build build date of April 17, featured no major difference to Build , apart from a new style logon screen and default desktop wallpaper. Microsoft considered several names for its new operating system. In the end, Microsoft chose Windows Vista as confirmed on July 22, , believing it to be a "wonderful intersection of what the product does, what Windows stands for, and what resonates with customers, and their needs. That's what Windows Vista is all about: "bringing clarity to your world.

Compared with the WinHEC build released earlier in the year, Vista Beta 1 was a large advancement in introducing new user interface features. The Windows Shell has drastically changed yet again, introducing virtual folders, a new search interface, several new high-resolution icons, and a revamped Windows Explorer interface that did away with the menus and most of the toolbar buttons that were present in previous versions.

Beta 1 also introduced many of the underlying technologies slated for Vista, including the new networking and audio stacks, parental controls, and fairly complete working build of. NET Framework 3. Build build date of August 7, , was leaked on December Build build date of August 30, , Microsoft started releasing regular Community Technical Previews CTP to beta testers, with less stability work made to them than actual betas. This was the first public "Ultimate Edition" build, and included Super Fetch.

Although not enabled by default, this refresh saw the return of the Windows Sidebar , which had been removed as part of the development reset, and the introduction of Desktop Gadgets , both of which are part of Microsoft gadgets line of mini-applications. Microsoft stated that they intended to make additional gadgets available for download from a website over time. This build also supported a new version of Windows Media Center code-named "Diamond".

This "Ultimate" build introduced Windows Media Player version The sidebar was temporarily removed; the build had a few new UI changes, including the ability to change the color and clarity of the UI. Windows AntiSpyware soon to be "Windows Defender" was integrated. Outlook Express was renamed "Windows Mail". It leaked to the Internet on December 7, Since then, the feature-complete build was delayed until late January There were some minor UI changes.

Because of this change post the builds, the well-known keys 'UseMachineCheck' and 'EnableMachineCheck do not allow running the Desktop Window Manager in software emulation mode. Build built on December 18, was the last build to be compiled in , and to have at least one Longhorn reference. February CTP built on February 17, , with a build number of This build was meant for enterprises.

It was also the first build to have the upgrade compatibility. This build, according to Microsoft, had all but one feature which should appear in the next CTP that customers will see in the final release. However, later builds brought more improvements than previously expected. An unstaged revision was made to this build and was released on February 28, , as build The UEFI 2. This build was shipped to technical beta testers and some corporate customers by Microsoft and was being used as a testing board for the extensive feedback they got from the February CTP.

They described this release as an "External Developer Workstation", with the intent of providing an interim build between CTPs. Microsoft claimed it was still on track to deliver the next CTP in the second quarter, the build that will be the last in the Beta 2 fork. The build included minor UI changes, most notably improvements to the Media Center, new Aero and Aurora effects, a faster setup process, some new Sidebar gadgets, and slight improvements in overall performance and stability.

This build did not meet CTP quality measurements, and was available only in Ultimate Edition, for both bit x86 and bit x64 systems. April EDW built on April 19, , with a build number of , which was released on April 21, , introduced more changes to visual user interface elements, and to the behavior of User Account Control. A number of new backgrounds were also introduced, and two new screensavers were added as well.

The Sidebar was enabled by default, as was automatic defragmentation of the hard drive. Hold'em , a game that shipped with some previous CTPs, was dropped due to apparent "political sensitivity" issues; Microsoft now offers it as a separate web download for Windows Vista Ultimate users. Windows Vista Beta 2 Preview built on May 1, , with a build number of was leaked on May 2, , and was officially released on May 6, , to Microsoft's technical beta testers.

It featured mostly performance tweaks and only a few minor changes compared to build With this build, Microsoft entered Beta 2 "escrow". Windows Vista Beta 2 built on May 18, , with a build number of , was released to Microsoft Developer Network subscribers the first since and Microsoft Connect testers on May 23, , in conjunction with Bill Gates's keynote presentation at the WinHEC conference.

On June 6, Microsoft extended the availability of Beta 2 to all users, making Vista available as a free download in several languages from their website.

Some technology websites described this release as "the largest download event in software history". In June, Microsoft made two significant changes to its plans for Windows Vista. When it was first introduced May , XPS known at the time as "Metro" was characterized as a "PDF-killer", but an Adobe representative stated that they were "not threatened" by its addition to "Longhorn".

Only Windows Classic can still be found in that operating system. Windows Vista ships in six different editions. These are roughly divided into two target markets, consumer and business, with editions varying to cater for specific sub-markets.

For consumers, there are four editions, with three available for economically more developed countries. Windows Vista Home Basic is intended for budget users and is available only in emerging markets. Windows Vista Home Premium covers the majority of the consumer market, and contains applications for creating and using multimedia. The home editions cannot join a Windows Server domain. For businesses, there are three editions.

Windows Vista Business is specifically designed for small and medium enterprises small and medium-sized businesses, is only available to customers participating in Microsoft's Microsoft Software Assurance Software Assurance program. Windows Vista Ultimate contains the complete feature-set of both the Home and Business combination of both Home Premium and Enterprise editions, as well as a set of Windows Ultimate Extras , and is aimed at enthusiasts.

All editions except Windows Vista Starter support both bit x86 and bit x64 processor architectures. Similar sanctions exist in South Korea. A Vista Capable or equivalent PC is capable of running all editions of Windows Vista although some of the special features and high-end graphics options may require additional or more advanced hardware. Windows Vista's Basic and Classic interfaces work with virtually any graphics hardware that supports Windows XP or ; accordingly, most discussion around Vista's graphics requirements centers on those for the Windows Aero interface.

Microsoft offers a tool called the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor to assist Windows XP and Vista users in determining what versions of Windows their machine is capable of running. Although the installation media included in retail packages is a bit DVD, customers needing a CD-ROM or customers who wish for a bit install media are able to acquire this media through the Windows Vista Alternate Media program.

The Ultimate edition includes both bit and bit media. The digitally downloaded version of Ultimate includes only one version, either bit or bit, from Windows Marketplace. Maximum limits on physical memory RAM that Windows Vista can address vary depending on the both the Windows version and between bit and bit versions. The following table specifies the maximum physical memory limits supported:.

The total maximum number of logical processors of a PC that Windows Vista supports is: 32 for bit; 64 for bit. Microsoft occasionally releases service packs for its Windows operating systems to fix bugs and add new features. The initial deployment of the service pack caused a number of machines to continually reboot, rendering the machines unusable.

This caused Microsoft to temporarily suspend automatic deployment of the service pack until the problem was resolved. The synchronized release date of the two operating systems reflected the merging of the workstation and server kernels back into a single code base for the first time since Windows Initially, the service pack only supported 5 languages — English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese.

Support for the remaining 31 languages was released on April 14, A whitepaper published by Microsoft near the end of August outlined the scope and intent of the service pack, identifying three major areas of improvement: reliability and performance, administration experience, and support for newer hardware and standards. One area of particular note is performance. Areas of improvement include file copy operations, hibernation, logging off on domain-joined machines, JavaScript parsing in Internet Explorer, network file share browsing, Windows Explorer ZIP file handling, and Windows Disk Defragmenter.

The ability to choose individual drives to defragment is being reintroduced as well. Service Pack 1 introduced support for some new hardware and software standards, notably the exFAT file system, Booting a system using Extensible Firmware Interface on x64 systems was also introduced; this feature had originally been slated for the initial release of Vista but was delayed due to a lack of compatible hardware at the time.

Two areas have seen changes in SP1 that have come as the result of concerns from software vendors. One of these is desktop search; users will be able to change the default desktop search program to one provided by a third party instead of the Microsoft desktop search program that comes with Windows Vista, and desktop search programs will be able to seamlessly tie in their services into the operating system. These changes come in part due to complaints from Google , whose Google Desktop Search application was hindered by the presence of Vista's built-in desktop search.

In June , Google claimed that the changes being introduced for SP1 "are a step in the right direction, but they should be improved further to give consumers greater access to alternate desktop search providers". The other area of note is a set of new security APIs being introduced for the benefit of antivirus software that currently relies on the unsupported practice of patching the kernel see Kernel Patch Protection.

An update to DirectX 10 , named DirectX Graphics cards will be required to support DirectX SP1 includes a kernel An updated downloadable version of the Group Policy Management Console was released soon after the service pack.

SP1 enables support for hotpatching, a reboot-reduction servicing technology designed to maximize uptime. It works by allowing Windows components to be updated or "patched" while they are still in use by a running process. Hotpatch-enabled update packages are installed via the same methods as traditional update packages, and will not trigger a system reboot. In addition to a number of security and other fixes, a number of new features have been added.

Windows Vista and Windows Server share a single service pack binary, reflecting the fact that their code bases were joined with the release of Server Service Pack 2 is not a cumulative update meaning that Service Pack 1 must be installed first. It includes major new components that shipped with Windows 7 , as well as updated runtime libraries. It consists of the following components:. Although extensive, the Platform Update does not bring Windows Vista to the level of features and performance offered by Windows 7.

In July , Microsoft introduced a web-based advertising campaign called the "Mojave Experiment", that depicts a group of people who are asked to evaluate the newest operating system from Microsoft, calling it Windows 'Mojave'. Participants are first asked about Vista, if they have used it, and their overall satisfaction with Vista on a scale of 1 to They are then shown a demo of some of the new operating system's features, and asked their opinion and satisfaction with it on the same 1 to 10 scale.

After respondents rate "Mojave", they are then told that they were really shown a demo of Windows Vista. The object was to test "A theory: If people could see Windows Vista firsthand, they would like it. The "experiment" has been criticized for deliberate selection of positive statements and not addressing all aspects of Vista.

A Gartner research report predicted that Vista business adoption in would overtake that of XP during the same time frame As of January , Forrester Research had indicated that almost one third of North American and European corporations had started deploying Vista.

At a May conference, a Microsoft Vice President said "Adoption and deployment of Windows Vista has been slightly ahead of where we had been with XP" for big businesses. In its first year of availability, PC World rated it as the biggest tech disappointment of , and it was rated by InfoWorld as 2 of Tech's all-time 25 flops.

The internet-usage market share for Windows Vista after two years of availability, in January , was This figure combined with World Internet Users and Population Stats yielded a user base of roughly million, which exceeded Microsoft's two-year post launch expectations by million. The internet user base reached before the release of its successor Windows 7 was roughly million according to the same statistical sources. Within its first month, 20 million copies of Vista were sold, double the amount of Windows XP sales within its first month in October , five years earlier.

Shortly after however, due to Vista's relatively low adoption rates and continued demand for Windows XP, Microsoft continued to sell Windows XP until June 30, , instead of the previously planned date of January 31, There were reports of Vista users "downgrading" their operating systems, as well as reports of businesses planning to skip Vista.

Amid the negative reviews and reception, there were also significant positive reviews of Vista, most notably among PC gamers and the advantages brought about with DirectX 10, which allows for better gaming performance and more realistic graphics, as well as support for many new capabilities brought about in new video cards and GPUs. However, many DirectX 9 games initially showed a drop in frame rate compared to that experienced in Windows XP.

Though in mid, benchmarks suggested that Vista SP1 was on par with or better than Windows XP in terms of game performance. Around the release of Windows 7 in October , a survey by Valve Corporation indicated that The survey also indicated that DirectX 10 was supported on Windows 7 is the seventh major release of Microsoft's flagship desktop operating system, released in October as the next step beyond Windows Vista. The good: Strong design and Microsoft don't always go together, but they do in Windows 7.

Users might take a while to get used to the new taskbar and Aero Peek, but they're a pleasure to use. The bad: Performance is still hit-or-miss in Windows 7. At the ripe age of seven, Windows XP still performs better in some categories. Deserved or not , Microsoft had dug itself a cool, deep, dark hole with Windows Vista. Users demanding that Redmond extend the life of Windows XP wasn't exactly something they could be proud of, either.

Bombarded by complaints and negative press even after the first service pack was released, the bar had been set high for Vista's successor: Windows 7. Luckily for Microsoft, Windows 7 is more than just spin. It's stable, smooth, and highly polished, introducing new graphical features, a new taskbar that can compete handily with the Mac OS X dock, and device management and security enhancements that make it both easier to use and safer. Importantly, it won't require the hardware upgrades that Vista demanded, partially because the hardware has caught up, and partially because Microsoft has gone to great lengths to make Windows 7 accessible to as many people as possible.

It's important to note that the public testing process for Windows 7 involved one limited-availability beta and one release candidate, and constituted what some have called the largest shareware trial period ever.

As buggy and irritating as Vista was, Windows 7 isn't. Instead, it's the successor to Windows XP that Microsoft wishes Vista had been, and finally places it on competitive footing with other major operating systems like OS X and Linux. The three versions that Redmond will be promoting most heavily are Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate, although Starter will also be available to consumers.

Windows 7 will support both bit and bit systems. A touch-screen monitor is required to take advantage of the native touch features. Do note that some users have claimed to have limited success running the Windows 7 beta with less than 1GB of RAM, but that's not recommended.

Installation Microsoft is offering several paths to install Windows 7. People can buy a new computer with the operating system already installed, upgrade from Windows XP or Vista, or do a clean install on a computer the user already owns. The clean installation took us about 30 minutes, but that will vary depending on your computer.

Vista users merely need to back up their data before choosing the Upgrade option from the install disc. Custom will have the same effect as a clean install, although it'll save your old data in a folder called Windows. Once you choose Custom, you'll need to select the partition of your hard drive that contains Windows XP, and then follow the instructions to enter your product key and allow the computer to reboot as needed. If you're not sure if your current computer can run Windows 7, you can download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor from Microsoft.

Features: Taskbar and Aero Peek Although the look of Windows 7 may seem to be nothing more than some polish applied liberally to the Vista Aero theme, make no mistake: This is a full replacement operating system, and more than just "Vista done right. The first thing that should stand out is the new taskbar.

This is one of the best improvements Microsoft has made--third-party program dock makers are going to have to do some serious innovation when Windows 7 goes public. Besides incorporating the translucent style of Aero, the new taskbar is arguably even better than the Mac OS X dock. It features pinned programs using large, easy-to-see icons.

Mouse over one and all windows associated with that program appear in preview. Mouse over one of those preview panes to reveal an X to close the window. Hover over the preview to show a full-size preview of the program, or click on the window to bring it to the front. Because of the button size, people with touch screens should find it especially easy to use.

Jump lists are another new taskbar improvement that make recently opened documents easier to get to. Right-click or left-click and drag on any program icon pinned to the taskbar to see a list of files that you've recently used in that program. In Internet Explorer, this will show recently visited Web sites, although it doesn't yet seem to work in Firefox.

If you've noticed the missing Show Desktop icon, that's because it's been baked into the taskbar itself. Mouse over to the right corner. Hovering over the Show Desktop box reveals the desktop, and then hides it when you mouse away. Click on the box to minimize all your programs. Resizing programs has been simplified and improved by the capability to drag a window's title bar.

Drag a program window to the top of your monitor to expand it to full screen. If you want to work in two windows simultaneously, drag one to the left edge and one to the right edge of your screen, and they'll automatically resize to half the width of your monitor.

Dragging a program away from the top or sides will return it to its original size. Theme packages also make it much faster to change the look of Windows 7. From the Control Panel, you can change the theme under Appearance and Personalization.

Microsoft has created several theme packages to give people a taste for what the feature can do. Click on one to download it, and it instantly changes the color scheme and background--no need to reboot. Users can create their own themes, as well. Windows Media Player and Device Stage One of the biggest new features makes Windows Media Player useful again: you can now stream media files from one Windows 7 computer to another, across the Internet and out of network.

Even better, the setup procedure is dead simple. When you open Windows Media Player, there's a new Stream option on the toolbar. Click it, and you're presented with two choices. Both require you to associate your computer with your free Windows Live ID.

When you've associated a second Windows 7's WMP with that same ID, you can remotely access the media on the host computer.