Windows Vista build 5231 (winmain)

Windows Vista build 5231 is a pre-Beta 2 build of Windows Vista. It is almost the same as build 5231.2 but it is only available in the x86 architecture.

Setup
Setup has received minor uplifts compared to previous builds of Vista. For starters, the fonts used in both the first section of setup and the hardware portion have been changed. There is also a new fading animation whilst switching between pages in the first section of setup. The "your installation summary" page has also been removed, and its subpages are now just generic pages shown after going past the upgrade page. The progress bar on the hardware portion stage of setup now increases in size depending on how far you actually get with setup.

New features and changes

 * Upon booting into Windows, a boot manager prompt will show by default, giving you the option to boot into this build of Vista, or to boot into a legacy Windows release (otherwise a release of Windows that is based upon NTLDR, rather than BOOTMGR).
 * The Avalon/Indigo IE 7 icon on the desktop has been removed.
 * Windows Media Player 11. This version of WMP now supports real-time searches.
 * Reliability Monitor is added.
 * A new volume control app. It allows the volume to be set independently.
 * Network Center and Saved Networks were introduced. The taskbar has a tray icon for Network Center in this build.
 * This build is the first build to support the IPv6 protocol.
 * Windows Memory Diagnostics and Windows Disk Diagnostics were added.
 * Windows Mobility Center was added.
 * Network link is added to Start menu.
 * Auxiliary Displays page has a new Control Panel banner.
 * This build includes DVD Maker app inside the Movie Maker folder in Program Files.
 * Windows Picture and Fax Viewer now uses Windows Digital Gallery's modern downside bar for navigation.
 * Cancel button is added to Connect to a Projector wizard.
 * Updated font rendering.
 * Migration Wizard (Windows Transfer) has an updated user interface.
 * In All Programs section in the Start menu, the two separate Tablet PC folders are merged into one.
 * Windows Collaboration link is added to All Programs section in Start menu.
 * Solutions and Problems Control Panel applet UI gets a minor update in this build.
 * Offline Files is added to Control Panel.
 * Tablet Input Band is added as an optional taskbar toolbar.
 * PIX Photo Slideshow screensaver is added in this build (PhotoScreensaver.scr)
 * This build includes the 8point1.wav sound file in System32 folder.
 * Fax Console is renamed to Windows Fax and Scan in this build.

Windows Explorer

 * Classic menu bar has a smaller font.
 * Search... text has less margin towards the search box.
 * Add Current Tabs to Favorites option is aded to the Favorites section in the Windows Explorer menu bar.

Ease of Access

 * Accessibility Options is renamed to Ease of Access in Control Panel.
 * It now opens inside the Control Panel window rather thab a separate window.

Windows Digital Gallery

 * Windows Photo Library is renamed to Windows Digital Gallery.
 * About box which contained the Microsoft Digital Image Library banner is removed.
 * A downside bar is added which will be seen in the RTM version of Windows Photo Gallery and its degraded version, Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 7.
 * A search bar is added.
 * Tag button is added to the toolbar.
 * Folders View is shorted to Folders.
 * Zoom bar and rotate left-right buttons are moved to the downside bar.
 * All Pictures and Videos and Folders section in the navigation bar received new icons.
 * Register Windows Photo Library is removed.
 * App background is now a highly light blue instead of gray.
 * View By is removed from the View section in menu bar.
 * It's link is added to the All Programs section in Start menu.

Tasks
New menu items:


 * View Pictures and Videos
 * Play Slideshow
 * Fix
 * Create Clips
 * Restore Deleted Clips
 * Extract Video
 * Publish Movie
 * Burn to DVD

Other:


 * Adjust Time Stamp is renamed to Change Time Taken and the help icon is removed in it's window.

New navigation bar sections

 * Recently Imported
 * Tags
 * Dates
 * Ratings

Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer 7 has received a few minor uplifts. Some icons (such as the loading website icon found on each tab) has been replaced with a green ring spinning around, having a similar concept as the Aero waiting cursor. A new certificates page has been added, which can be seen when accessing pages with invalid certificates. In the Tools section in classic menu bar, Phishing Filter sub-menu is added.

DWM
The Aero theme when DWM is initialized has received a few minor uplifts. The program buttons on the top-right are slightly lighter when the cursor isn't hovering over them. A transitioning effect is also utilized if moving your cursor on top of the buttons, and the glowing effect now mostly resembles that of RTM.

Menu bar

 * Menu bar is now larger and includes 3 new things: New Task, New Event buttons and a search bar.
 * Menu bar also has a new gradient-glossy bitmap behind it which will later be seen in the final version of Windows Vista.
 * All menu bar sections now have icons.
 * Tasks pane is added.

File

 * Archive option is removed.
 * The Print sub-menu item is replaced with the simple Print Calendar option.
 * Ability to e-mail a calendar is added as E-mail this item.

Edit
4 new items are added:


 * Event Details
 * Task Details
 * Calendar Details
 * Preferences

View

 * List view is removed.
 * View modes now have shortcuts assigned to them.
 * Today is renamed to Go to today.
 * Go to task now has 3 dots after it (naming)
 * Show/Hide Info Pane is removed.

Share

 * Publish sub-menu is replaced with a simple Publish context menu item.
 * Unpublish and Send Publish Announcement are added.
 * Shared Calendar Sites is removed.

Help

 * Online Support and Send Feedback are removed.
 * Keyboard Shortcuts is added.

Monthly-view calendar pane

 * The Today: M/D/YYYY (format depending on your regional settings in the "Regional and Language Options" Control Panel) text is removed from the monthly-view calendar pane.
 * It no longer pops a context menu item called "Go to today" if you right-click a date in the pane.

Preferences
This build includes changeable preferences for Windows Calendar.

General

 * Default alarm ringing time (as minutes). Default one is 15.
 * Ability to start week on one of the 7 days of week. Default day is Sunday.
 * Default appointment length (as minutes). Default one is 80.

Hours

 * Days start at (default one is 8:00 PM)
 * Days end at (default one is 5:00 PM)

Advanced
It only has:


 * Turn on reminders when Windows Calendar is not running (it's enabled by default).

Other changes

 * App also received a new icon in this build.

General

 * Logon settings subsection is updated with new descriptions and credential requirement is now optional.
 * Connection settings subsection is updated with new description and a new Save button besides Save As and Cancel.

Local Resources

 * Ability to automatically connect PnP devices to the remote connection you're making.

Connection

 * Security tab section is renamed to Connection in this build.
 * Ability to protect all communication using SSL is added.

Security

 * Authentication sub-section is renamed to Security.
 * Example FQDN link is removed from the Security sub-section.

General sub-section in System Properties

 * System rating is added.
 * System specs are now in a separate sub-section called System.
 * Activation properties are added.

Audio Devices and Sound Themes

 * Sounds and Audio Devices is renamed to Audio Devices and Sound Schemes in Control Panel.
 * The applet window is larger than the previous build.
 * Audio, Voice and Hardware sections are removed.

Windows Media Center

 * Windows Media Center's setup interface has been minorly updated.
 * Couple of UI elements are updated to a more glossy style in Windows Media Center, such as buttons.
 * Picture right-click context menu has 3 new items:
 * Small/Large Thumbnails
 * Picture Details
 * Delete
 * Create CD/DVD item is removed from the full-screen picture view context menu.

Main Menu
Windows Media Center's main menu looks more finalized in this build.
 * Arrows and hover-scrolls are added to Windows Media Center's main menu.
 * Some section images are replaced with their RTM ones.
 * Ability to use the middle-button in a mouse to scroll up-down is added.
 * A title has less opacity if it's further than the selected section (it depends on how much further it is).

Movies & DVDs
This build of Windows is the first to include the Movies & DVDs section in Windows Media Center.

Tasks

 * Create CD/DVD task is removed.
 * Add Extender task is added.

Setttings

 * Extender settings are added.
 * Some images are removed from Windows Media Center settings.

Internet Properties
Overall applet window is larger in this build.

General

 * History and Temporary Internet Files sections are now grouped in one.
 * Search and Tabs sections are added.

Privacy

 * Phishing Filter preferences are added.

Content

 * Parental Controls section is added, has a button that opens the Windows Parental Controls applet in Control Panel.
 * Feed Discovery section is renamed to Web Feeds.
 * AutoComplete settings are added.
 * My Profile settings are removed.

Programs

 * Manage Add-ons section is now separate.
 * Reset Web Settings button is removed,

Advanced

 * Restore Defaults is renamed to Default Advanced Settings.

Magnifier

 * Maximum magnification level is now 16x instead of 9x.
 * Fullscreen magnification mode is added.
 * User interface of Magnifier settings window is updated.

Power Options

 * The applet gets a minor feature refresh and a UI redesign in this build.
 * Power management options are added as well.

Help and Support
Many app icons, search box and the gradient background are updated.

Windows Firewall
Changes in Windows Firewall exceptions:


 * PC to PC Sync, Peer Name Resolution Protocol and Windows Peer-to-Peer Grouping are removed from the exception list.
 * Remote Assistance is added to the exception list.

Bugs and quirks

 * PIX Slideshow Screensaver crashes if you first select a screensaver called "Slide Show" and then "My Pictures Slideshow" in screensaver preferences.
 * Windows Digital Gallery's slideshow feature doesn't support VMware 6.x compatibility.
 * Opening Saved Networks Control Panel applet crashes Windows Explorer.
 * Ease of Access uses .RTF document icon inside Control Panel in this build.

Installation
This build will BSOD during the setup on QEMU and modern versions of VMware. Using either VirtualBox, Virtual PC 2007 or VMware with either 5.x or 6.x hardware compatibility is recommended.

Taskbar

 * If DWM is enabled, the font on the start button is bolder than usual.
 * If the theme is set to Windows Classic and then reverted to Aero, parts of a taskbar reminiscent of the one seen in build 5048 may be seen.