Windows Vista: Build 5231

Allen Fear CNET

Published: 18 Oct 2005

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Here's a recap of Windows Vista's progress to the current build (5231):

September 2005

It was apparent from the moment we launched build 5219, released on 16 September 2005, to coincide with the Microsoft Professional Developer Conference, that graphics lay at its heart. In this version, Microsoft showed off its new Windows Presentation Foundation (formerly known as Avalon) and previewed some features of the new WinFS file system, although it wasn't the full file system update we were expecting.

Windows Presentation Foundation

Microsoft has greatly improved the look and feel of its Windows operating system. Formerly called Avalon, the Windows Presentation Foundation utilises 3D capabilities, allowing applications to appear out of nowhere, then appear to fall back into the desktop when they are closed. There's also more standardisation across the OS, with each program sporting new translucent window bars so that you can see what applications are open behind a current one, along with multi-coloured options in the upper-right corner of each window so that you can tell at a glance the difference between minimise, restore size and close.

User Account Protection

With build 5219, Microsoft tackled the issue of providing greater security by separating administrator privileges from user privileges. In other words, you can log in with your set of preferences and extend guest accounts to others on your system. When the time comes to make changes to the system registry, however, you'll need a password to access the administrator account. This should significantly reduce the number of rogue applications that install without your permission.

WinFS

Although a full-blown version of a new Windows file system won't be ready for Windows Vista's release in late 2006 (instead it will ship with an unnamed version of a 'Longhorn-based' server in 2007), a limited version of WinFS will be included with Vista and offers a preview of what's to come.

Basically, WinFS frees you from having to remember the arcane file structure on your hard drive. Now files can be linked dynamically by meta-tag content, such as author, content and keyword. Thus, without physically moving a file on your hard drive, you can create virtual stacks of files.

July 2005

On 27 July 2005 Microsoft released Windows Vista Beta 1 to about 500,000 software developers worldwide. Microsoft wants to make sure that developers know how the new OS works before they put the finishing touches on the overall look and feel of Windows Vista.

After installing Beta 1 on our notebook, we were struck with a subtle déjà vu. Borrowing from Linux, Windows Vista runs all users at a Standard user level and creates a separate Administrator login, so even if you are the only user of the OS, you will still need to log in with Administrator privileges to do high-level work, such as changing the status of hidden or read-only files. Standard users should still be able to install and uninstall applications, provided they know the password for Administrator privileges. This extra effort should minimise the occurrence of spyware installing without your knowledge and remote-access exploits from taking control of your computer.

Borrowing from Apple Mac Tiger OS 10.4, Windows Vista incorporates enhanced desktop-search features throughout its new OS. You can search from the Windows Start menu or within applications, and you can also search within the new version of Internet Explorer 7. Also borrowing from Apple, Windows Vista does away with traditional file folders and allows you to "stack" related documents together. These virtual files can exist independent of where the actual file resides on the hard drive.

See our slide show for a detailed look inside the Beta 1 release.

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