Windows Vista build 5259

Windows Vista build 5259 is a pre-Beta 2 build of Windows Vista, which was shared online along with a recompile on or before 30 November 2005.

Setup
The setup interface has been changed in this build, now using a window in the middle of the screen with a fake Aero border and Aero buttons, but the title bar is not transparent. A new aurora background for the Preinstallation Environment, first seen in build 5252, has been introduced in place of the older blue Windows logo graphic. An option to automatically activate Windows upon finishing setup has been added to the product key page. The disk partitioning section has also been slightly reorganized.

The second phase has been updated with the new wallpaper as well, however, it still retains the general look of the previous setup design iteration. The most notable change is that the progress bar in the bottom of the screen has been replaced with one similar to the first phase with numbers and labels marking each stage of the installation process.

This is also the first post-reset build with a WIM-based setup to feature an Out-of-box experience. Compared to the Windows XP version, the OOBE uses the Aero Wizard interface and includes pages for determining information that would have been determined during the second phase of Windows XP setup. The version included with this build is already very reminiscent of the version that shipped with RTM, although it uses the Tahoma font instead of Segoe UI and some graphical glitches are present.

The autorun program has also been updated with a new version of the Windows flag, however, it is vertically stretched in this build. The window background has also been changed to a solid dark blue color.

Despite of the introduction of the new logo, the icon shown on the title bars of autorun, setup and OOBE is still the older one from 2001 and horizontally stretched in autorun and setup.

New features and changes

 * This is the earliest available build to store the minimum build number required for upgrading in.
 * The Windows Boot Manager now stores data in BCD (Boot Configuration Data) instead of.
 * The icon to report a bug on the desktop has been renamed to "Feedback".
 * Applications that require elevated permissions upon launch will now open up a User Account Control dialog once again, now looking more similar to that of the RTM.
 * Windows ReadyBoost has been introduced. It allows the user to use USB drives as virtual RAM drives.
 * Windows HotStart, a system that runs both a program and boots the OS at the same time by pushing a button, has been introduced.
 * Windows Media Player 11 received new icons and redesigned music controls. Additionally, most references to Windows Media Player 10 have been removed and the copyright date has been updated to 2005.
 * Windows Calendar has a completely different user interface and removed several features such as "Publish to RSS".
 * Windows Digital Gallery has been renamed to Windows Photo Gallery with minor updates to it. Also, several features left from Digital Image Library have been removed.
 * Migration Wizard now uses the fake Aero Glass window seen in the final setup interface. However, it throws out two assert errors upon launch.
 * Help and Support Center has been reorganized in a much more efficient manner.
 * Windows Media Center received minor updates.

User interface
Many user interface changes have been made to further resemble that of the RTM.


 * This is the earliest available build to use the new orb Start button, which first appeared in build 5212.
 * The Start menu has been completely redesigned.
 * Icons on the right pane have been removed.
 * The user name and icon have been moved to the right pane. Additionally, the user name can be clicked to open the User folder.
 * New power and lock buttons have been added.
 * Aero transparency has been added.
 * The classic Start menu banner now reads "Windows Vista™" instead of "Code Name "Longhorn"".
 * The taskbar has been updated with a darker look and redesigned buttons.
 * A shortcut to initiate Flip3D has been added to Quick Launch.
 * Buttons and drop-down menus have been updated to a less glossy style.
 * Aero caption buttons have been redesigned.
 * Custom colors can now be applied to the Aero theme.
 * A glass selection box will appear when desktop items are hovered over.

Windows Explorer

 * The command bar color has been changed to a static blue-green gradient.
 * A new help icon has been added to the command bar.
 * New search filters have been introduced.
 * System folders are no longer hidden by default. With this, the functionality to hide/show system folders have been removed from Folder Properties as well.
 * The navigation buttons have been updated for when the Windows Classic theme is enabled.

Internet Explorer 7

 * The bluish-purple accent has been dropped in favor of a more gray look.
 * The tab loading animation has improved in quality.
 * Tabs now have their own close button.

Windows AntiSpyware
Windows Antispyware has been introduced, based on a similar product by a company Microsoft acquired in 2004 and which would later be renamed to Windows Defender.

Windows Mail
Outlook Express 6 has been replaced with Windows Mail. Windows Mail comes with new in-app icons, except the app icon still resembles Outlook Express 6.

Windows included games

 * Shanghai Solitaire has received its final icon, but scaled down.
 * Chess now uses the "Chess Titans" branding in more places and the icon has been updated to have a black knight and a black pawn, next to the original icon.
 * A new sound has been added to Purble Place, but is not used. It may be played with this tip:

Control Panel

 * The gradient on the left sidebar has been changed to dark green to light green with the addition of the Windows logo as well.
 * System Properties has been overhauled with a new design and now opens inside the Control Panel window.
 * Another new applet called "Personalization" has been added. Various functionalities of Display Properties applet has been moved into this new page. Additionally, the sub-applet for changing the desktop wallpaper now opens inside Control Panel as well.
 * Ease of Access applet received an interface update with a new icon.
 * Windows Update has been completely redesigned as a Control Panel applet. Unlike previous versions of Windows, no dedicated HTML page exists for it.
 * A new applet called "Performance Center" as well, which would be known as "Performance Information and Tools" in the final version of Vista.
 * Auxiliary Displays has been renamed to Windows SideShow.
 * "AutoPlay" and "File and Printer Sharing" applets have been added.
 * User Accounts applet received major uplifts.

Removed features
Most of the color schemes for the Windows Classic theme have been removed, except for the High Contrast ones, Windows Standard and Windows Classic.

Bugs

 * Certain applications such as Device Manager are not accessible via the Run prompt. In this case, an alternative route is Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager.
 * This build tends to have stability issues, and can easily crash upon simple tasks, such as installing drivers and opening up applications. At worst, bluescreens can also occur.
 * The CPU may not be shown correctly in system properties.
 * Even if the machine does not have a floppy drive, a button for it may appear in Windows Explorer anyway.
 * Explorer may randomly crash at times.
 * System Restore cannot be used in this build as it will fail to create and restore with error.

Installation

 * On some devices and virtual machines, the setup cannot partition the hard drive, requiring the usage of DiskPart. After using Diskpart to partition the hard drive, you must then restart the machine.

Build 4033

 * It is not possible to install or upgrade this build from build 4033 due to an assertion error.

Build 5000/5001

 * It is also not possible to install or upgrade this build from build 5000 and build 5001 due to setup.exe crashing.

Windows AntiSpyware
Time displays the 24-hour format but within indicating AM/PM.