Welcome to VistaSector. Please read through our Longhorn was first mentioned by Microsoft in 2001, as a minor stepping stone between Windows XP and "Blackcomb". It was due to be released in 2003, but as time progressed, these two operating systems began to merge and spill into each other, knocking the release dates back. As XP Service Pack 2 was shipped, Microsoft caught onto the trend, changed tack completley and announced in 2004 that the development of Longhorn was going to start almost completely again.
Longhorn was to be built on the Server 2003 codebase, and would be a fully fledged operating system of its own. Several builds of Longhorn were built, and the most recognisable is build 4074. Vienna (as Blackcomb is now called) is a planned home and server version of Windows, for after Vista, estimated to be out anywhere between 2009 and 2012. Vienna is planned to be a total rethink of the way users interact with computers, a complete revolution of our home and office life. We will be launching an article discussing Vienna soon - watch this space.
In July 2005, Windows Vista was branded with its full title. Longhorn was only a codename for Vista, just as 'Whistler' was the codename for XP. With the full title in place, the real beta-testing began.
Longhorn Builds
Build 3646 was an early port of the XP codebase (June 2002)
Build 3663 showed some variations and a temporary "plex" theme (July 2002)
Build 3683 was the first build of Longhorn that got leaked onto the Internet (Sept 2002)
Build 3718 was the first to show off the Aero theme and its effects (Nov 2002)
Build 4008 showed off some major variations to the Explorer interface (Feb 2003)
Build 4015 housed many new features and controls, but had many problems (Mar 2003)
Build 4029 was called onghornLay rofessionalPay, which is Pig Latin (June 2003)
Build 4051 was the Official PDC 2003 build, with a new Slate theme(Oct 2003)
Build 4053 had only minor changes (Oct 2003)
Build 4074 was the Official WinHEC 2004 preview build, the most famous Longhorn(Apr 2004)
Build 4083 was he last leaked 64-bit XP-based build, without the sidebar or WinFS (May 2004)
The Big Change
As 2004 began, it was clear that the programmers were just shoving everything they could into Longhorn, without actually keeping track of what they were meant to be doing. Microsoft staff were comparing Longhorn to Cairo, which was an early-1990s version of windows that ended up being scrapped and its technology put into Windows 95 - they were calling Longhorn "Cairo.NET" - the ultimate insult.
A new team of core architects and some experienced executives were brought on the scene to map everything out and realign the entire project. It was apparent that Windows Server 2003 had the best codebase and the best architects had been working on it, and it made no sense to not use it and still work on XP. The switch was made in mid 2004, and Server 2003 Service Pack 1 became the new codebase for Longhorn.
Vista Builds
Build 5000 was the first Server 2003-based Longhorn, and was called D1 (Sept 2004)
Build 5048 was the official WinHEC 2005 preview build, with Aero (April 2005)
Build 5112 was Windows Vista Beta 1 - the first with the new name (Jul 2005)
Build 5203 was actually built alongside beta 1, but had some changes (Jul 2005)
Build 5219 was the first CTP (Community Technology Preview) (Sept 2005)
Build 5231 was leaked, but had many bugs, but also had WMP11 (Oct 2005)
Build 5259 was the TAP Preview, but too instable to be released as a CTP(Nov 2005)
Build 5268 was the OEM Preview, and had Windows Defender and a new IE7 (Dec 2005)
Build 5270 was the December CTP, and very close to feature-complete (Dec 2005)
Build 5276 was internally previewed only at CES 2006 (Dec 2005)
Build 5308 was the February Enterprise CTP, the first feature-complete build (Feb 2006)
Build 5342 was the February CTP Refresh, and used to test the improvements since 5308 (March 2006)
Beta 2
Build 5365 was the April EDW, sorting out the software lineup before Beta 2
Build 5381 was the preview before Beta 2, for technical testers only.
Build 5384 was the official Beta 2, available to MSDN and Connect users on May 23rd, and released to the entire general public as a download or to order on DVD on June 6th (May 2006)
Build 5456 was built on June 20th, fixing the immeditate problems with Beta 2, including the UAC dialogs, Time Zone bug, old XP icons and mouse pointers, as well as reducing the diskspace required for installation (June 2006)
Build 5472 introduces a new standard non-Aero theme and improved Network Center, as well as being reportedly as fast and fluid as XP.
Release Candidate 1 (RC1)
Build 5483 (July 2006) and builds 5487, 5492, 5505 and 5520 (August 2006) were made available to a limited number of TAP testers, featuring a revised customization screen, new sidebar gadgets, improvements to AA in Flip3D, and other interface changes. Although the desktop is badged as RC1, these builds were still Pre-RC1 builds (the desktop in Build 5520 is tagged Pre-RC1).
Build 5536 (August 21 2006) is known as the main Pre-RC1 build. It was closely tied to the Windows Live services, featured a slightly changed Aero and further tweaked Flip3D. Technet testers tried it out on August 24, 2006, and it was released publicly on August 29, 2006.
Build 5600 is Vista RC1, fixing all known bugs and issues and optimized interface. It was released to TAP testers on September 1st 2006, MSDN/Technet subscribers and existing CPP members on September 6th, and new CPP members on September 14th.
Release to Manufactuer (RTM)
Build 5700 (10 August 2006), the first build of the RTM branch, was shown at the Student Day Presentation of Microsoft Tech-Ed 2006 in Australia. It appeared to run faster than the previous Pre-RC1 build 5472 with a few UI improvements.
Build 5728 (17 September 2006) was released on 22 September 2006 to technical beta participants. The following day, Microsoft released a 32-bit version of the build to the public, with a 64-bit version arriving on September 25.
The final RTM build is expected before the end of October 2006, with a corporate release in November 2006 and a public release in January 2007.