Windows Vista build 5308.6

Windows Vista build 5308.6 is a Beta 2 build of Windows Vista, which was shared by BetaArchive user marcoguy on 19 December 2016. It is an earlier compile of the official February 2006 CTP build.

Setup
Once again, the setup interface has received major uplifts. The setup autorun now finally has a different background, which is essentially the same as the aurora background. The logo is also no longer stretched, and the button choices have been updated. Although the install now button remains to be large and eye-catching, the system recovery and release note options are now just selectable text. However, the general design is still slightly odd, since the text isn't yet perfect, and the logo on the titlebar isn't cropped properly.

Upon starting installation, the font for the starting installation text has been changed. Once reaching the first page of setup, you will be granted by a heavily revamped UI, which is now looking a lot more realistic compared to the actual Aero theme. The text color and font has been improved, and the Windows flag on the title bar is now the Windows Vista flag, and is also no longer stretched. When starting installation, you will no longer be greeted by an introduction page, and will head to the product key stage instantly. If clicking on the help buttons for each page, the dialogues now open up with a more metallic-like Aero dialogue, with the actual close button being featured. The EULA has also been updated once again. The upgrade page now drops the (recommend) for upgrade and introduces (advanced) for a clean installation, and the text is more organized. The layout for the disk partitioning page now resembles that of RTM, asides from text color/font. The computer name has also been dropped entirely and is now only included during the Out-of-Box-Experience, which means that after passing through the disk partitioning page, you will head straight to copying files.

Once restarting, you will be greeted by the hardware portion of setup. However, this is still very similar as aforementioned builds of Vista, just with different fonts once again - including the progress bar text fonts. However, the bar tends to disappear after some time for an odd reason.

After another restart, you should finally reach the OOBE. For some odd reason, the resolution gets dropped from 800x600 to 640x480, which leaves the OOBE in a tight space. The first page contains a new keyboard layout option. The timezone page also now contains a calendar and both an analog and digital clock.

New features and changes

 * The boot screen no longer displays both the Longhorn text and the white Windows flag, and the copyright text now says "Windows © 2006 Microsoft Corporation" in the Segoe UI font. Similar changes also apply to the hibernating and safe to power off screens.
 * A new start orb is shown upon booting into Windows. The startup sound doesn't play when the start orb shows, however. Instead, it plays when logging in after booting up your computer.
 * The copyright date of  has been changed from 2005 to 2006. This persists up to Windows Vista build 6000.16386.
 * Winver now references the SKU in the copyright notice. Instead of only referring "Windows Vista", it now reads "Windows Vista [SKU] Edition".
 * Context menus and menu bar items now use a glass-like texture for selections, as opposed to it being solid colored. This change also makes context menus larger.
 * The solid colored selection is still used in some menus and applications, as well as if the Windows Classic theme is enabled.
 * In the right click context menu, desktop background and themes settings have been merged into one button called "Personalize".
 * Yet more icons have been introduced. The sound tray icon will now show a red X if either sound is muted or there are no drivers working/installed. Certain icons in Internet Explorer have also been replaced. The local disk received a new icon as well.
 * The navigation pane in File Explorer has been simplified. It now shows a set of pinned locations, which would later be known as "Favorite Links" in build 5355 onward. The "Folders" explorer bar has also been moved to the navigation pane as a drawer. Opening it will display a similar navigation tree in a UI that can be resized vertically.
 * Internet Explorer's loading site animation has been updated. It's appearance is identical to that of the Aero waiting cursor, which would be introduced in build 5456.
 * Certain apps have been renamed, such as Windows Transfer (which is now known as Windows Easy Transfer).
 * Relating to Windows Transfer, it now opens up in full-screen, with the aurora background being used yet again, and it now uses the same layout that setup introduced in this build.
 * The Windows Sidebar process is now functional again, unlike in build 5284.
 * Windows Poker was renamed to Hold 'Em. However it was made an ultimate extra sometime later.

Login screen
Upon booting up, you will be greeted by an entirely new login screen. While maintaining the same old aurora wallpaper, it now directly shows the page of the main account if there is only one account available excluding the administrator account. On the selected account page, the account profile picture, password and login button will make up the middle of the screen, while there are also extra options on the bottom-right corner. The "switch user" button simply goes to a user selection dialogue, which will also show if there are more than one user account. A new Ease of Access button has been added, which has multiple options, including launching up multiple programs or enabling the high contrast theme. A revamped power off button has also been added, with an arrow on the right section that gives you other options.

Welcome Center
This build introduces a new application called "Welcome Center". It appears on the first boot and can be configured to show upon each login. It contains certain details about the computer, such as the SKU and system specs, and it also has a few applications down below that you can open.

Start menu
The Start menu has received another update. The hibernation button is now placed on the left instead of the right, and is now merged with the other options button. It also has a different shade. The Start menu itself is also slightly wider.

New Virtual Folders
New virtual folders have been introduced. This includes the following:
 * Attachments
 * Favorite Music
 * Fresh Tracks
 * Important E-mail
 * Last 7 Days E-mail
 * Last 30 Days Documents
 * Last 30 Days Pictures and Videos
 * Recently Changed
 * Shared By Me
 * Unread E-mail
 * User's Files

Snipping Tool
This is the first build to include the redesigned Snipping Tool. It isn't listed in the Start Menu, but can be found within the System32 folder.

Control Panel

 * The most notable change in Control Panel is the sidebar, which now has a blue-green background rather than a green-green one.
 * "Control Panel Home" has been rearranged with also a few category renames and the removal of "Sound and Speech Recognition" category.
 * Windows Update has been updated with Windows Ultimate Extras content (Ultimate SKU only) and a link for learning more about Windows Ultimate Extras has been added to the applet sidebar.
 * The personalize section in the Control Panel now has a few new features, such as display settings.
 * Ease of Access applet has been minorly updated.
 * Security Center interface has been updated to match other Control Panel applets.
 * "Solutions to Problems" applet has been renamed to "Problem Reports and Solutions".
 * "Color Management", "Backup and Restore" and "Sidebar Properties" applets have been added.
 * A link to Disk Defragmenter has been added in Classic View.
 * "User Account" received a minor UI update and a new icon.
 * "Parental Controls" applet received a minor UI update.
 * "Speech Recognition" applet received a new icon and a UI redesign.
 * "Administrative Tools", "Internet Options", "Scanners and Cameras" and "Pen and Input Devices" applets received their new icons as well.

Bugs

 * Upon shutting down, the shutdown sound gets cut off after half a second of playing.
 * The "Color Scheme" applet of Control Panel has a chance to crash upon opening. If this happens, you will need to apply the theme manually by opening the theme in.
 * Due to the aforementioned changes to the visual appearance of context menus, some apps like newer versions of Firefox will show those abnormally big. This does only affect the Windows Aero and Windows Basic themes, as this is not the case when the Windows Classic theme is set. This bug persists up to the Beta 2.
 * Some copies of this build and its later compiles only ship with the Windows Classic theme.

Installation

 * Whilst partitioning on a clean drive, you will not be able to format the hard drive without restarting, due to the hard drive "not being ready".
 * The OOBE in this build is very slow and can crash quite easily.