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.

Business SKU
The Professional Standard, Professional N and Professional Enterprise SKUs have been replaced with the newer Business, Business N and Enterprise editions.

Boot screen
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 hibernation and safe to shutdown screens.

Login screen
Upon booting up, the user will be greeted by a new start orb animation before seeing an entirely new login screen. While maintaining the previous aurora wallpaper, it now directly shows the page of the main user account if there is only one account available (excluding the administrator account). The selected account page features a user-centric design that primarily shows the user account's profile picture, password and logon button at the center of the screen, whereas additional options are found over at the bottom-right corner. A new Ease of Access button has been added, which provides multiple accessibility options such as enabling text-to-speech or utilizing several high contrast color schemes, along with a revamped shutdown button that features a drop-down context menu containing additional power options.

The Switch User button allows the user to view a list of active accounts and log onto a different user, which also displays by default if more than one user account is present in the system.

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.

User interface

 * 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. The Start menu itself is also slightly larger.
 * 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". In addition, the "Look in Folders" option has been removed.
 * The sound tray icon will now show a red X if either sound is muted or there are no drivers working/installed.
 * The Windows Basic and Aero themes received minor updates.
 * User Account Control received several updates.

Winver

 * This build reuses Longhorn branding in Winver banner for Starter SKU, unlike build 5270.
 * The copyright date of  has been changed from 2005 to 2006, which would persist up to Windows Vista build 6000.16386.
 * Winver now references the SKU in the copyright notice.

Windows Explorer

 * The navigation pane in Windows Explorer has been simplified. It now only shows a set of pinned locations, which would later be known as "Favorite Links" in build 5355 onward. The "Folders" drawer has also been added, which will display the navigation tree when opened.
 * Libraries were renamed to Virtual Folders. They are functionally very similar.
 * Animated banners have been added to file operation dialogs.
 * Local and network drives received new icons.

Windows Sidebar
The Windows Sidebar process is now functional again, unlike in build 5284.

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.

Internet Explorer 7

 * Internet Explorer 7 receives new icons for the command bar and status bar.
 * The tab loading animation has also been updated, with its appearance now identical to that of the Aero waiting cursor introduced in build 5456.

Windows included games

 * "Windows Poker" has been renamed to "Hold 'Em".
 * Purble Place now includes Purble Pairs and new Purble designs which would be kept in the final build. However, the Purble Shop eyes are still animated.

Windows Easy Transfer
"Windows Transfer" has been renamed to "Windows Easy Transfer". Additionally, it received minor UI updates to resemble this build's setup process.

Control Panel

 * The Control Panel sidebar 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 Power Options applet has been overhauled and now opens inside of the Control Panel.
 * The Default Programs applet has been added.
 * Color Management has been added, which helps users adjust color profiles.
 * Security Center interface has been updated to match other Control Panel applets.
 * The Scanners and Cameras applet now includes a refresh button.
 * Personalization received a few new features, such as display settings.
 * Several new screen savers from the RTM have been added.
 * Several applets have been renamed.
 * "Secure Startup" has been renamed to "BitLocker Drive Encryption".
 * "Performance Center" has been renamed to "Performance Rating and Tools".
 * "Solutions to Problems" has been renamed to "Problem Reports and Solutions".
 * "Scheduled Tasks" has been renamed to "Task Scheduler"
 * Ease of Access, Parental Controls, Performance Rating and Tools, Speech Recognition, and User Accounts received minor UI updates.
 * Administrative Tools, BitLocker Drive Encryption, Internet Options, Pen and Input Devices, Scanners and Cameras, Security Center, Speech Recognition, and User Account applets received new icons.
 * Links to Backup and Restore, Disk Defragmenter, and Sidebar Properties have been added.

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".

Visual styles
Some copies of this build and its later compiles only ship with the Windows Classic theme.

Context menus
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 bug persists up to the Beta 2 build.

Control Panel
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.

Shutdown
Upon shutting down, the shutdown sound gets cut off after half a second of playing.