Windows Vista build 5098

Windows "Longhorn" build 5098 is one of the last builds compiled before the Beta 1 stage of Windows Vista. By this point, Microsoft implemented a substantial amount of features originally planned for Windows "Longhorn", thus ending the Omega-13 milestone.

This build looks quite similar to 5112, although it still is referred to as Windows "Longhorn". The setup has also been changed to the aforementioned build's style, with a blue gradient compared to the black one from 5048. This build cannot upgrade to 5112 because build 5099 or higher is required to do so. Before it was leaked, Paul Thurrott used screenshots of this build in his review of Vista Beta 1, and UX.Unleaked also has a few images of it available. On 2020-01-23, this build was listed on a thread by UX.Unleaked founder Grabberslasher to be released to the BetaArchive FTP, and was later released in the fourth set of his 33 Longhorn/Vista builds on 27 January 2020, along with build 4081.

In comparison with build 5048, this build was a much more significant advancement with regards to introducing new user interface features. The Explorer shell had seen significant changes, including virtual folders, a new search interface, many new icons (mostly for the Control Panel), a redesigned toolbar and the addition of the Games Explorer. The Login screen has been changed and now resembles the one seen in 5112, with the same style as the installation process. This build also updated the Windows Aero theme, making it look very similar to the RTM version. However, Windows Aero now requires a LDDM driver and XDDM drivers do not work, so Aero is currently not known to run in this build outside of real hardware. The Aero Basic theme still has numerous differences when compared to the theme that is in the RTM.

Setup
Setup has received many major uplifts. A new "Windows is copying files" screen now appears upon booting into setup, and the overall theme has been changed drastically to a more bluish-like style. Upon reaching the beginning of setup, an autorun prompt will appear, giving you the options of either installing Windows, seeing what's new, or reading notes. Upon installing Windows, you will see a familiar, but slightly changed layout, alongside the new said theme. A new upgrade page has also been added if booting off of the disc, however it isn't functional since it isn't possible to upgrade without being inside Windows at this current stage. The review and adjust page has been cut down massively, and is now referred to as the "your installation settings" page. Disk partitioning is also now functional. Once reaching the second stage of setup, you will be granted with a more pre-reset resembling hardware setup, since it's mostly just the new WinPE wallpaper, alongside text that now uses anti-aliasing.

Changes

 * Luna theme is removed in this build.

Bugs and quirks

 * When attempting to create a new partition, the setup will hang. However, the partition will be created and can be formatted upon reboot.
 * Windows Media Player will crash upon exiting during its first startup.
 * The Computer folder in Windows Explorer may sometimes not display the list of drives. Refreshing the folder will usually fix the problem.