Windows Longhorn build 4008

Windows Longhorn build 4008 is a Milestone 4 build of Windows Longhorn, which was shared online on 28 February 2003.

It is the last build of Longhorn to identify itself as its predecessor on the boot screen.

Setup
The setup experience is overall similar to the one featured in build 4005.

New features

 * This build updated the Plex theme to be more reminiscent of the Luna theme.
 * This build also had many updates made in the folder windows. For example, the My Documents details background color has changed from blue to tan.
 * The Plex theme has received major overhauls, including different gradients for the title bars and revamped buttons.
 * The bug where Luna is referred to as Plex in the display properties has been fixed in this build.
 * Despite not being compiled in evaluation mode, you can boot it on the current date.

Parental Controls
This is the first build to include Parental Controls, which can be used to limit the hours that can be used on the computer and monitor the use of internet programs. Only limiting hours that a user can use the computer has been implemented.

The Administrator account can set a limit to any limited user account, including the Guest account. When it is set, the limited user account with the restriction can only use the computer for the specified times the Administrator set. When the time the person can use the computer is past, it automatically performs a "Switch User" operation. Any attempt to log in at a disallowed time will result in a "wrong password" message if the user had a password, regardless of whether the user entered the correct password or not. If that user doesn't have a password, then it will place a password on that account until the user is allowed to log in again.

Hidden Sidebar tiles
A few Sidebar tiles are disabled by default in this build. These are:


 * RMA Test Tile - It is just a stretched version of the "Longhorn" clock  file.
 * Longhorn Status - Links to an intranet link at Microsoft.
 * Internet Webcam - Links to a live image of a Redmond, Washington, USA freeway, similar to the Traffic ticket from Sideshow, a prototype of Sidebar from Microsoft Research.
 * Media Player - Non-functional. Windows Explorer will crash if you try to open a file.

A registry patch was made available by AlphaAddict that enabled the aforementioned tiles in 2006, but the download link no longer works. On 27 March 2020, it was discovered that it is possible to enable them by merging a registry file with the following content:

Windows Explorer must be restarted after applying the registry file.


 * Messenger Status Tile - This tile only works if you are using Windows Messenger. You cannot use MSN Messenger with this tile. Also, this tile does not work with Windows Messenger 4.0, you will need 4.6 or 4.7 for it to function correctly. In order to activate this tile, apply a registry file with the following content:

Installation

 * Unpartitioned drives cannot be selected for installation in the setup. To setup from a hard drive without any partitions, select the disk that Windows will be installed on.
 * If there is an existing partition, the partitioning section of setup will throw out an assertion error.
 * Many drivers aren't installed by default during the hardware portion of setup and have to be installed manually.
 * On older CPUs, the OOBE will throw out Avalon errors upon loading. To get past this, press Ctrl to load Task Manager and kill the process.

Upgrade
Upgrading from build 4002 or build 4005 results in the theme service failing to launch with. It is not possible to fix without reinstalling.

Desktop Compositing Engine
The Desktop Compositing Engine is heavily broken in this build, so the animations and window transparency cannot be enabled.

Arial
The Luna theme uses the Arial font in most places rather than Trebuchet MS on the title bars and Tahoma in most other places. This quirk was later fixed in build 4029 (main).