Well this was certainly an exciting weekend for Windows "Longhorn", so let me recap the recent events!
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.
Note, this beta program also includes the new Internet Explorer 7 as it was originally just planned for "Longhorn", but will now also be available for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.
Then, Saturday morning, we got word of screenshots having surfaced for a new Windows "Longhorn" build (5203). This new build was interim one from the WinMain labs that was never meant to leave Redmond, and was part of the Beta 2 code branch. Amoung other things, this branch will include many of the GUI enhancements left out the previous WinHEC 2005 build (5048), and even the upcoming Beta 1 build for that matter, which made the screenshots very promising. Naturally, it also made everyone eager to get their hands on a copy of the build. However, we later found out that the person who originally created the screenshots, did NOT give the build to anyone and he's NOT going to leak it. Therefore, we'll have to make due with the screenshots for now and wait 'til, say September, to officially test it out. It's definitely looking good though so, again, here's to the future of "Longhorn"!!!
Well that's about the jist of things. As always, to keep up on the latest Windows "Longhorn" happenings, please check out our our corresponding forum, and also check out the links below for additional information on each of these events.
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