Windows Longhorn build 4093

Windows Longhorn build 4093 is the last 'main' compile of the original "Longhorn" project (based on the Server 2003 RC1 code-base) before development was reset with build 3790.1232. This build was leaked on 28 August 2006, shortly after the closure of the original OSBetaArchive, and was labeled a farewell release. It is highly unstable; which was typical of most later "Longhorn" builds.

It can login on the current date without activation.

It was the last pre-reset "Longhorn" build to be leaked, and one of the last to be compiled. This build's installation media cannot be booted up normally; this can be done using build 4033's Preinstallation Environment. However, there are people on the internet who have fixed this issue with a custom installer that lets you boot straight from the ISO.

Many applications and features are unstable works-in-progress, and might not function as intended. The development reset began a mere four hours and fifteen minutes after the compilation of this build, at 16:29 (although many teams had already been working with the new codebase since at least 3 August 2004). Development moved to a new code base, which eventually became Windows Vista.

Setup
Although setup is mostly similar to previous builds of Windows Longhorn, a few places have been changed slightly, mostly just text being changed.

Features

 * A new sound tray icon has been added to the taskbar, however it just opens up the Sound and Devices Properties window.
 * The Games library has been updated majorly. Although there are no longer any shortcuts to the games (but the games themselves are still present on the system) due to componetization, there are certain features located on the toolbar, such as buddy matchmaking.
 * The shutdown/restart/stand by choices have been uplifted, now including an entirely revamped shutdown screen, prompting you if you want to carry out said action.

UAC
User Account Control has received a few uplifts in this build, now granting a tick dialogue in the properties of an application on whether non-admins can open said app or not. The dialogue itself upon opening an unknown application has also been modified.

MXPlayer
It has a new version of Media Player called MXPlayer. It can be accessed by running  in the installation directory, but it is incomplete and a lot of the options don't work or result in assertion errors.

Avalon Applications
It includes an Avalon-based Windows Movie Maker application. However, this version is highly unstable, and the debug prompts and assertion error messages that plague it make it nearly unusable. The Movie Maker can be found in.

It also marks the return of the Avalon-based Display Properties dialog first seen in build 3683. However, most of the links simply redirect you back to the XP-style dialog. An Avalon-based Power dialog can be found in this build as well, though it is unstable. Likewise, there is also an Avalon Wireless Presentation application in this build. The applets are,  , and   in  , respectively.

It also includes a prototype Color Management Avalon-based control panel. However during componentization of the build, a mistake was made in the manifest for the main executable of the control panel, leading in the executable not being present in the component store, and its main DLL component duplicated. The component in question is. However it is believed that the missing executable was just a stub, starting the main application code in the duplicated system.windows.explorer.controlpanel.colormanagement.dll file. It is thus easy to recreate the stub executable using an IDE like SharpDevelop. The control panel applet is extremely unfinished, as shown by the other pages accessible on the right either crashing or doing nothing.

Prototype Windows Product Activation
Inside  is a file named. It contains dialogs for a prototype version of Windows Product Activation, however most of the dialogs don't load and those that remain are highly unstable and incomplete. Some of the dialogs can be run via, where ? is a number from 1 to 10, but only 2, 3 and 6 load correctly. However, the 6th dialogue mentions about both Home and Premium SKUs of Windows Longhorn, which indicated that there was going to be said SKUs. These SKUs would later become Windows Vista Home Basic and Home Premium. Asides from the SKUs, the entire list of LicenseUI pages can be found here.

Miscellaneous features (such as Sidebar and WinFS)
It is the last build to include the original Windows Sidebar. It would be reintegrated into Vista, but only starting in build 5212 and as its own process instead of being integrated with. It is also among the last to include WinFS.

Windows Classic theme
The Windows Classic theme has been fixed in this build, unlike the 408x branch. Before 4093 and after 4074, the theme was not working due to a bug, but the Windows Classic visual style was still working.

Explorer
Hardware and Devices folder is now functional again, unlike in previous builds.

Safe mode
The safe mode is broken and results in a blue screen of death. Since this build of Windows Longhorn doesn't need activation, the safe mode is pretty useless.

Explorer

 * CD and DVD drives behave like local disks. This means the drivers are almost impossible to install.
 * Help and Support crashes Explorer. After some time, it will restart the Explorer.
 * Explorer can randomly crash for no reason under normal use, such as adding Sidebar gadgets.
 * Sometimes, icons may not show correctly on the desktop and Start menu unless you log off and log back on.

Outlook Express
Outlook Express does not start due to errors.

Luna
The navigation buttons from Explorer, Internet Explorer and Help and Support are missing in the Windows XP Luna visual style.

Control Panel

 * Phone and Modem Options Control Panel applet name is empty.
 * Computer Management displays script errors.

Installation

 * As typical of builds in this build range, it tends to take a long time to install and can be unstable.


 * At one point of setup, the hardware portion of setup has many issues with MUIs, and it will also fail to copy certain files. Whenever setup prompts you to locate certain files, simply skip them.

Timebomb
It is one of the notable Longhorn builds that has a broken timebomb and can be installed on the current date.

No mouse driver in WinPE
On some computers and virtualizers, this build's WinPE doesn't support the mouse, so you must use the keyboard to navigate the WinPE. This seems to be related to using a PS/2 mouse, as USB mice seems to work fine for the setup.