Author: Blue Horizon
We now enter the Beta 3 stage of NT 5.0- er, actually, it's not even called NT 5.0 anymore, at least for the branding. This is still NT version 5, but the actual name for this version of Windows has been finalized. "NT 5.0" is now replaced with "2000", and "Workstation" has been replaced with "Professional". The professional branding is still used in Windows today, albeit shortened to "Pro", and it got a slight temporary change in Vista with it being named "Business".
Branding changes aside, there's a lot of new visual perks in this build - too many to count all at once. I may not comment much on every screenshot since it's likely barely any different from previous builds, but there are some minor changes that do have an impact on later releases of Windows. Anyway, let's dive in.
Setup now identifies itself as Windows 2000, of course.
But more importantly, the partitioning and formatting portion of setup is fixed and doesn't require an MS-DOS/Win9x disk beforehand.
The text at the top is slightly changed and now mentions installation directories.
And of course, it now identifies as "Windows 2000 Professional" in the OS loader.
The new bootscreen. It has a greater emphasis on the gradient cube theme.
Just for the sake of it, here's what this screen looks like when it's converting to NTFS.
The setup and overall theme got a visual makeover. Tahoma is now used instead of MS Sans Serif for the first time since build 1592 (though not everywhere), and the graphic to the left of the window is just like how it is in the final.
Other than that, not much to say here compared to previous builds. However, they did remove the display options portion of setup.
A better look at the setup background. Sadly isn't in high color. Not sure if one even exists since the setup is forced to be at a low color depth.
Upon booting up, there's a new window that displays information about starting up the network, and this is before you enter your username and password.
And there's that one infamous "Built on NT Technology" phrase.
After logging in, it now displays information about loading and configuring your settings.
Right off the bat, a new default desktop wallpaper. This pre-dates XP in terms of having a default wallpaper out of the box on first boot (active webby desktops don't count).
Also, the new "Windows Standard" theme mentioned in the previous build review is now the default theme. The Outlook Express shortcut on the desktop is also gone.
The welcome window is slightly changed and has a new visual appearance.
After closing the welcome window, you get a balloon tip telling you about the start menu. Not sure why they needed this other than for people who have never used Windows before.
Some stuff has been removed and rearranged in the start menu, mainly the Internet Explorer components.
And here's a better look at the default wallpaper. The active desktop wallpaper hasn't changed as it still identifies as "NT 5.0".
In addition is also a new desktop wallpaper logo, also having that one infamous phrase.
The about dialog now has a banner at the top. The winver window is also the same thing and replaces the NT logo that was in use since literally NT 3.1.
Also oddly enough, the icon is positioned incorrectly.
Explorer has gotten a slight facelift - most notably the graphic on the left and the toolbar has changed.
HyperHelp has a new visual homepage along with a new table of contents. A new "Favorites" tab as also been added.
The accessibility wizard is given a new "wizard-like" look. Don't actually use it though, as it still bugs up the explorer.
The internet connection wizard now works this time around as I'm able to progress through every step without issues.
The MSN wizard is also redesigned, although it obviously doesn't work when the MSN servers are defunct.
The Outlook Express splash screen is now finalized.
Along with the new splash screen is a new about dialog. And it should also be pointed out that the icon has changed arrow positions and is now finalized.
Also at this point, the Outlook Express interface is identical to the one in the final build. Even OE 6 has this same interface.
Add/Remove Programs now looks exactly like the one in the final build, and even looks the same as the one in XP.
Also, not to be nitpicky, but those two icons on the left seem to have JPEG artifaction.
The On-Screen Keyboard has some extra keys for Asian characters, but those don't seem to do anything. Perhaps this would be used in an Asian language version of Windows.
Microsoft Sam is now included with Narrator! Not much more to say, except that the other voices from the previous builds are removed.
Finally, shutting down. The shutdown dialog is only different thanks to the added banner logo at the top, but other than that still the same thing.
Pretty self-explanatory, a shutdown dialog telling the user to manually press the power button.
Now, I can't end this review without mentioning this new startup sound. Some people often mistake this praticular sound as the logoff sound in NT 5.0 builds, but in reality the NT 5.0 builds just use the regular old shutdown sound from NT 4.0.
Also a new logoff sound in this build. Interesting yet weird.