Recently lots of Longhorn News has been arising. An article at ADT Magazine discusses the possible release date of Longhorn, which could be anywhere from 2006 to 2008, as well as the management of code in the upcoming operating system. Another article says that Longhorn will support the Windows XP user interface as well as the next generation UI currently in deverlopment, codenamed Aero. Unfortunately, Longhorn will not support the Windows 2000 UI. A new build of longhorn leaked according to iexbeta.com and a tweak guide is available. Next L3vel reports that build 4053 of Longhorn, Microsoft’s next major version of Windows, has leaked. Most of the changes in this build include bug fixes, particulary with explorer.exe, which had a huge memory leak in previous builds.
Longhorn News; Build 4053 Out in the Wild
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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OK, so they plan to retire the W2K GUI … very sad news, because I feel very comfortable with it. Here’s hoping that whatever Aero turns out to be is 10x better than XP.
Does sound like they recognize that Luna didn’t go over terribly well with most people, though.
So it sounds like we will be losing the “classic” grey look? Thats too bad. I HATED the new, fruity looking UI that XP has (The Silver theme did look ok though). The first thing I did was switch back to the grey look as soon as I installed XP, and I now run Theme XP so I can have a truly customized looking interface. From the screen shots I have seen, the new interface for Longhorn doesnt look too bad. I hope we will have the option to customize things like the colors, unlike with Windows XP.
It will not be too hard to switch back to the older grey Windows-look. Since a lot of people prefer that look, it won’t take terribly long before some free patch or whatever becomes available enabling you to use the older look.
OK, so they plan to retire the W2K GUI … very sad news, because I feel very comfortable with it. Here’s hoping that whatever Aero turns out to be is 10x better than XP.
Yeah, IMHO .. that is the best GUI ever. Not big on eye candy but very pleasent on the eyes!
maybe not
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,1995,1541143,00.asp
It works great on my notebook, I really like it so far. Better than XP.
I cannot believe 2006 – 2008 though, I mean should they hire Robert from SkyOS to crank out some code for them…<grin>
So far it seems really really stable.
-Jason
Love the “classic” UI. Takes up less room and is more recognizable and managable than the XP UI. Run me over with a semi and I would look like the XP UI. Anyways… Interesting that there is a build in the wild, I suppose it figures that somehow one would get leaked. So, Jason, is that what you have?
4053 has been out since october. It was given freely to developers by microsoft at the PDC conference, along with the new visual studio.net build (whidbey).
I’m looking at the longhorn CD right now, and the dust on it is definately alot older than this article.
Not to be a smartass, but you guys are aware that windows xp and 2003 server are skinnable, correct? You can buy utilities like stylexp or windowblinds if you’re not very savvy. And for the experienced windows user, which I would expect many here would be, you can easily find the patch online, i’d suggest the neowin.net variety. Once installed, there are hundreds, if not thousands of themes to choose from, ranging from visually stunning to blindingly ugly. Changing themes is as easy as right click, display properties, appearance.
I’m currently using OpusOS 1.5 by bose and it’s quite nice.
So, Jason, is that what you have?
I have the PDC (which seems to be 4053…)
-Jason
Geez, they should have code named it “Buck Rogers”.
oh well… they officially lost a user.
I use windows xp because i actually like it.
Every application that I use has a suitable replacement that comes installed with most linux distros, but I have always prefered the look of windows to the look of gnome, kde, xfce, etc.
I cannot stand looking at the XP theme for very long.
Microsoft will be supporting the Classic UI in Windows Longhorn. But it will be in a 3 tier mode, so computers that can’t handle or take advantage of Aero will be able to use the Classic UI with the Classic fixtures of what was introduced in Windows 95 such as the Start Menu, the only difference is, it will feature the new vector based icons, just like what happens if you use Classic UI in XP.
It will also probably have a resemblance to Windows ME’s brighter more welcoming Classic Windows look.
By the way, you can apply the XP Luna Theme in Windows Server 2003 by simply turning on the Theme Services in the Administrative Tools – Services.
Sup all,
I’m a windows user, that has some network admin experience. I hold no Certs, because I think they are for people who need to prove something. However, it appears that MS has done it once again, dropping support for Win2k GUI, What does all this mean? Well prolly just a more tweaked, more refined Xp with just about 10% more Bloat. I for one trust my hands with MS, but I usually wait till the First Service Pack is realeased. I am glad to hear that MS is focusing on Security for the first time in like 10 years. The Win2k GUI Model is nice, but if you ever used Xp, you can make it look like 2000 (with a weird font look).
As for their release dats consistantly changing, It don’t matter to me, they are releasing another Xp to bridge the gap. It will prolly be a hybrid of Xp – Longhorn (Areo) .. Anyone that has used the PDC version can honestly say, that it’s user friendliness is kinda well hard to swallow. Again, my point of view. Soon you will need a resolution to fit anything, that isn’t clutter on your screen, either that or use very magnification glasses for those whom can’t see very well.
The New UI does bring better Graphic subsystem, which will display things at a much more fine tuned manner. I believe that Xfree86 already has such a subsystem.
Again, without leaders, we wouldn’t have followers. Gnome has decided to have a new Bar that runs up the side of their desktop environment … One question: Why? .. either case, I hope that 4053 bring more fine tuned explorer, and maybe (Crossed fingers) a fixed WinFS … After all a database hard drive can’t be all that bad ..
— My 2 pennies ..
— Canadian, I am
I think Microsoft is taking on an ambitious endeavor it cannot handle and thats Longhorn. Why give us the Security foundations of Longhorn, and at a later date you apply the GUI goodness of Aero and other Interface functionality with another improved Security foundation.
Microsoft needs to take wise steps and stop jumping all over the place.
Oh yes, I know about the variety of skins out there. But if you are sitting at someones PC or at work where your install options are limited, it is nice to default to the Win2K UI.
The first two links seem to be to the same blog post.
Before this drops off the bottom of the page:
http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=8965
Yes, it has just leaked this week … 4051 was at PDC… 😛