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Windows XP: The Road to Gold
(Part Two)
The development history of Windows XP
Reviewed
Continued from Part One...
Beta 1 brings a rollout plan
Finally, on October 31, 2000, Microsoft released Whistler build 2296
as Beta 1. "The release of Whistler Beta 1 represents the next step in
delivering on our vision for Windows and will provide software and
hardware vendors with a single code-base on which to develop applications
and devices for both home and business PC users," said Microsoft senior
VP Brian Valentine, who oversees the Windows Division at Microsoft. "This
release will help us continue to receive the feedback we need, which will
help ensure broad compatibility of software applications and hardware
devices and ultimately provide the best customer experience."
Microsoft also announced that it was planning a phased rollout of
Whistler, which allowed the company to keep to its yearly release
schedule for consumers. "Whistler represents a significant milestone for
the industry by bringing the reliability of the Windows 2000 code base to
both business and home PC users," a Microsoft spokesperson told me. "In
order to bring the reliability of Windows 2000 to consumers as soon as
possible, and to address the feedback from enterprise customers,
Microsoft plans a phased release of Whistler, beginning with the desktop
products, followed by the server versions. Both the desktop and server
versions are expected to be generally available in the second half of
2001."
With Beta 1, "It's too soon to map out any specific new features in
Whistler," Whistler lead product manager Greg Sullivan told me. "We've
brought the foundation of Windows 2000 forward and now we're testing, in
Beta one, the compatibility of software and hardware devices. The key
here is feedback from the testers regarding compatibility." In other
words, the visual stuff was bound to change. A confidential source at
Microsoft explained why. "It turns out that skinning the UI is a bit
difficult and we're concerned with what might happen. There may be a
skinning kit later but right now it's not supported. If you've seen the
various builds you will have seen the progression in the UI. This will
continue post-Beta 1 as you will shortly discover. I can't say for
certain, but I have the feeling that the UI is being hacked about a lot,
so it makes sense to not allow UI skins for now. In Beta 1, there is no
published way to create a skin, nor have we suggested that this would be
possible either now or later. We will have to wait and see, but I fully
expect folks to work this out and to publish the approach."
"Consumers care a great deal about the compatibility of devices and
software," Sullivan said. "They also care about reliability and
dependability. The goal with Whistler is to give them both. The goal is
for everything to work." And because the consumer Windows products have
been on a different release schedule than the business products, the
planned phased rollout of Whistler makes sense: The Personal and
Professional editions of Whistler will ship months before the Server
editions, he says, though both are due in the second half of 2001. "Our
consumer and business OSes are on a different schedule," Sullivan notes,
"and Whistler will be no different. Consumer OSes are generally released
more frequently. Server is on a different deployment schedule."
Whistler Beta 1
(Build 2296)
A few days after Whistler Beta 1 shipped, I revealed in WinInfo that
Microsoft would be including an integrated media player,
and Instant Messaging (IM) client in IE 6.0, the version
of IE that would be included in Windows XP. IE 6 went
through a few changes since its inception--most notably
the removal of Smart Tags and the Personal Bar--due to
tester feedback.
At that year's Fall Comdex, a number of notable
Whistler-related events occurred. First, Microsoft
mistakenly referred to Whistler as "Windows 2001" in a
press release about the Gates keynote. "[Gates]
explained that cutting-edge hardware and software
companies are excited and already planning for the
Windows 2001 launch." The company claimed it was a typo
and later corrected the blurb to simply read Whistler
instead of Windows 2001. And Microsoft unveiled its
Tablet PC, which would be based on a version of
Whistler. Read my review of
Fall Comdex 2000 for more information.
Original Microsoft press release (excerpt)
After Comdex, I cast my (somewhat incorrect) vote for
the final Whistler name: Windows .NET 2002. And
actually, that is indeed the name of the server versions
of Whistler.
In mid-December, Microsoft showed off the new version of
Windows Media technologies that would be incorporated
into Windows XP, Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Windows
Media Video 8. Windows Media Audio 8 can deliver near-CD
quality sound at 48 Kbps, compared to WMA 7's 96 Kbps
and MP3's 128 Kbps. And Windows Media Video 8 can
deliver near-DVD quality video at 500 Kbps, opening up
the possibility of video on demand for broadband users.
The company also released a command line tool that
enabled users to get started with the new formats.
On December 18, 2000, Microsoft announced that an
embedded version of Whistler--cunningly named Whistler
Embedded--would be created to serve a range of embedded
scenarios, such as Windows-based terminals, advanced
Internet-capable set-top boxes, and retail point-of-sale
(PoS) kiosks. "Building on the success of Windows NT
Embedded 4.0, we are committed to helping embedded
developers utilize the 'Whistler' advancements through
componentization and a rich embedded tool set," said
Bill Veghte, the vice president of the Embedded and
Appliance Platforms Group at Microsoft. "The release of
'Whistler Embedded' Beta 1 is an important milestone
because it facilitates feedback from our close customers
and industry partners, which is critical to ensuring a
reliable and well-tested final release for the
fast-growing embedded industry." The company promised to
release Whistler Embedded within 90 days of the wide
availability of the PC versions of Whistler.
After over two months of silence, the Whistler beta
finally kicked into gear again on January 4, 2001, with
the release of interim build 2410. This build is notable
primarily because it is the first to include the dreaded
Windows Product Activation (WPA) feature. Here's how I
described it at the time: "This version of Whistler,
which is the next version of Windows, now features some
intriguing anti-piracy mechanisms that create a personal
product identification code that is attached to the
machine on which the OS is installed. If I understand
the purpose of this new scheme, Microsoft is finally
following through on its long-time threat to enforce its
licensing policies, as each Windows license is
technically attached to the machine on which it is first
installed, and is not attached to the person that
installed the product. With the new scheme, it will no
longer be possible to use the same Product ID to install
Windows to more than one machine."
Whistler 2410 included a number of new features, such as
some nice new high-color icons, a renaming of the
Professional Theme to "Watercolor," and more. IE 6.0 was
included for the first time, and it came with the new
Media and IM Explorer bars. This build did not include
new Visual Styles; instead, a demonstration Theme was
included to show how the UI could be changed, but
sources at Microsoft told me that week that the company
had no plans to release any sort of Theme builder
application so that users can make their own UIs. In a
controversial move obviously intended as a poke at Apple
Computer, the Recycle Bin has been moved to the lower
right of the Desktop by default, where the Mac's
Trashcan is located. Also, much of the text in Whistler
2410 was changed to read "Beta 2," though this build, of
course, was not yet Beta 2.
Whistler build 2410 included a number of firsts for this
product
For more information, read
my review of Build 2410.
At the Bill Gates keynote during the Consumer
Electronics Show (CES) on January 5, 2001, some very
interesting happened, though no one seemed to notice it:
The new Welcome screen that would later debut in Windows
XP build 2428 was briefly seen during his Windows XP
demo. Gates said that Whistler will make it far easier
to work with digital cameras, scanners, and video
recorders. He also showed off the Xbox, new Windows
CE-based devices, and a variety of personal audio
devices that support Windows Media formats.
"The key thing to remember with the next generation of
Windows is, we are basing it on the Windows 2000
platform," Microsoft Product Manager Steve Guggenheimer
said during the Gates keynote. "So we'll bring you the
dependability of our highest end corporate desktop, and
total dependability, to the home. But, at the same time,
we're starting to move it in the direction of making it
very consumer-oriented. Making it very friendly for the
home user to use. So it can be on 24 hours a day, and it
can have the same reliability and durability as a
traditional consumer electronics device.
"What you'll notice here is a login screen. And the way
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