Pre-Release Testing Of Longhorn Starts + Screenshots

11 Jul, 2005 at 10:38am ET Article published in Tech

Microsoft has started offering a selected group of testers an early preview of Windows, Code-Name “Longhorn”.

In other related news ieXbeta has made available some new screenshots of the latest Longhorn build 5203 as well as a handy recap of this weekends Longhorn events.

View: Longhorn Screenshots @ ieXbeta
View: A Recap of Longhorn News @ ieXbeta

Late Friday night, Microsoft sent out a first round of Windows “Longhorn” beta invitations to a very select group of testers (e.g. WinHEC attendees, MVPs, Microsoft Partners, etc.). Unlike before though, these invitations contained a unique ID for each tester and also utilized a new beta testing site called Microsoft Connect. Ultimately, this new site will take the place of current sites such as Microsoft BetaPlace and Microsoft WindowsBeta. All this was in preparation for the Beta 1 rollout which is still planned for the end of July. Later on this summer, the beta program will be expanded for a second round of testing and will include the more regular beta testers, the Community Technology Preview program, and most likely the public at the large.

Longhorn will provide advancements in the following key areas:

-A strong focus on the fundamentals of the operating system, including advancements in reliability, performance, deployment, and ease of use.
-Major improvements to help PC users to work smarter and provide exciting new experiences for home users.
-The next-generation developer platform to make it easier for developers to create breakthrough applications.

Source: Neowin

Comments

11 Jul 2005 ~ 10:44am entropy Y'know, the more I use(d) Longhorn before, the less entertaining it was. Since they took the sidebar out, it really has nothing special (other than the smoky glass UI... oooooo, aaaaahhh!).

I was excited for Longhorn before - now I probably won't upgrade
11 Jul 2005 ~ 11:51am primesuspect you'll upgrade just like the rest of us because it's newer and better.

It's nothing revolutionary. It's still fundamentally windows, with a modern looking UI. It's not a drastic paradigm shift like the one that happened from OS9 --> OSX.

Of course we'll all use it, we have no choice. They'll end support for Windows XP and we'll snicker and laugh at the old holdouts that are still using that ancient OS, just like we do now for 98/ME users.
11 Jul 2005 ~ 12:30pm kanezfan I want it now just because it's new and I want to play with it. I'll have to hit Ye Olde Pirate Tavern to see if it's out for the rest of us yet.
11 Jul 2005 ~ 2:31pm Shorty Il wait and see

An awful lot of prettiness there but I don't see any radical interface changes
11 Jul 2005 ~ 4:36pm jradmin I'm still wondering what supposed to be so good about it?
11 Jul 2005 ~ 4:40pm Spinner

Shorty wrote:

Il wait and see

An awful lot of prettiness there but I don't see any radical interface changes

Yeah, it seems like Longhorn has become more of a Shorthorn in the period of time since its original conception. Let's hope Microsoft makes sure however that everything under the hood is forward thinking enough and innovative enough to get Windows users through the rest of the decade.

I will upgrade to it though no matter what, I just love new things to fiddle with.
11 Jul 2005 ~ 11:02pm RWB It looked good at first, but then started cutting all the awsome "new" stuff out of it. WinFS, Avalon... and others. Though I think WinFS is coming back now, I don't know anymore I've given up.

I'll upgrade just becuase it'll probably support alot of the new stuff natively like SATA(without the damned floppy drive! I HATE THE FLOPPY!), that alone makes it worth it IMHO. But if it can support 4 processors that'd be even better as i want to own dual athlons with dual cores
11 Jul 2005 ~ 11:40pm shwaip I'll get it because it'll cost $10 to buy it from the school bookstore. Sweet. And for the transparency.

Are the menus still going to use the graphics card, rather than software to display? Or is that some pipe dream I had...
12 Jul 2005 ~ 4:22am Leonardo

Of course we'll all use it, we have no choice. They'll end support for Windows XP and we'll snicker and laugh at the old holdouts that are still using that ancient OS, just like we do now for 98/ME users.

My parents still use Windows 95!
12 Jul 2005 ~ 9:16am TheBaron lol, so do mine
12 Jul 2005 ~ 12:30pm GnomeWizardd kinda was expecting more of a UI change
12 Jul 2005 ~ 7:02pm Last2know1 I just built a new system and i'm running the new os xp pro 64 bit it is the same I like it is way faster. Longhorn looks like the mas X os I guess we will have to get used to it sooner or later..
12 Jul 2005 ~ 7:25pm primesuspect The only resemblance I can see with the OSX gui is the generous use of transparencies.... :shakehead
12 Jul 2005 ~ 9:20pm Jengo i probably wont get it. My PCs are just too slow for Windoze, Besides, if I wanted a fancy new graphical upgrade I'd just reskin Gnome, that easy... not only that but if I wasnt on Linux I would just get Windowblinds for XP, thats fun to mess with!