Windows Vista build 5259

Windows Vista build 5259 is a pre-Beta 2 build of Windows Vista.

Setup
Once again, the setup interface has been changed massively - mostly being one of the biggest changes yet. A new aurora wallpaper has been introduced, replacing the old bluish wallpaper with the Windows logo on the top-left. The setup autorun has also slightly decreased in length, and now uses a fade effect as well. It also introduces a new logo found in later releases of Windows, including Windows 7, however it is slightly stretched. The colors of the buttons also don't match slightly with the autorun background. Once choosing to install Windows, the same old progress bar will be left mostly untouched (asides from the bar being split between sections and now accurately increasing in size), however the main part of setup itself is now based inside an Aero-themed window mockup. However, many things (such as the buttons and text) aren't positioned correctly, and the Windows logo on the top-left is also stretched. The entire font is also different.

For the pages itself, the product key page now has a new option, prompting for whether you'd like Windows to automatically be activated upon reaching the desktop. The disk partitioning section of setup is also re-organized slightly, and the disk icon may show a 4-bit Windows XP logo.

The hardware portion of setup is now starting to resemble a lot of the first stage of setup more. The generic progress bar in previous builds has been replaced with the progress bar found in the first section of setup, with the new aurora wallpaper as well. The completing installation text however is still there.

Once rebooting after the hardware portion of setup, you will be introduced to a completely new Out-of-Box Experience. This is the first build of Vista since build 5001 to contain an OOBE, however it has much significant improvements compared to XP's OOBE. Rather than settings the country/region during the graphical stage of setup in XP, it is now included on the first page of this build's OOBE. The same goes with timezone selection and computer name (although this is just a repetition of the current computer name selection during the first stage of setup, however the computer name selection during the first stage would be removed in later builds). Account creation is also possible once again, with the addition of adding passwords and password hints, alongside choosing the default account profile picture through a few selection of images. Upon choosing the computer name, you can also select the desktop background, and there is an update selection page after the computer name page. The final page is simply a "thank you" page.

New features and changes

 * Applications that require elevated perms upon launch will now open up a user account control dialogue once again, now looking more similar to that of RTM.
 * The report a bug icon on the desktop has been renamed to simply "Feedback".
 * Option to use USB drives as a virtual RAM (Super Fetch).
 * "Publish to RSS" is removed in Windows Calendar.

New and changed applications
This build has introduced quite a few amount of apps. One of which is Windows Antispyware, which essentially would become Windows Defender in later builds of Vista. Windows Mail has also been introduced, replacing Outlook Express 7.

Certain apps such as Migration Wizard have been changed too, where Migration Wizard now re-uses a similar interface as the fake Aero Glass window during setup. However, it throws out two asserts upon launch. The Help and Support Center has also been organized in a much more efficient manner. Windows Media Center has been updated quite a fair bit, now containing a much different layout. Finally, Internet Explorer 7 has dropped its bluish-purple accent, and is now back to a more grey look. The loading icon has improved in quality, and it has also been slightly re-arranged. Tabs now also have its own close button, rather than having to right click on a tab to close it.

Explorer and Control Panel
File Explorer itself has received a few updates. Many icons have been replaced, and the ribbon colors are a static blue to green gradient. The control panel derivative however has received larger updates. The gradient on the left is now a dark green to light green gradient with a green Windows logo. An entirely new page has been added too, dubbed "System". This replaces the old Computer properties dialogue with a more efficient and less compact page. The main page includes the Windows Edition, system rating, processor info, amount of RAM, computer name and description, workgroup, and activation. Extra toolbars have been added on the green sidebar, such as Hardware and Security Center. Another new page, dubbed "Personalization" has been added too. Here you can change things such as the current theme and desktop background.

Aero, taskbar and DWM
Although windows using the Aero Basic theme looks similar to aforementioned builds of Vista, and DWM effects are also practically the same, Aero using DWM now resembles that of RTM, with things such as the buttons now being updated. The taskbar and start menu has now received major updates, with the taskbar resembling that of RTM as well. The start menu is closer to resembling that of RTM, but it still has a few differences. There is also now an option to change the Glass color. Finally, Flip3D also resembles that of RTM.

Bugs

 * Certain applications such as Device Manager isn't accessible via run. In this case, an alternative route is Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager.
 * This build tends to have stability issues, and can easily crash upon simple tasks, such as installing drivers and opening up applications. At worst, bluescreens can also occur.
 * The CPU may not be shown correctly in system properties.
 * Even if you don't have a floppy drive in your machine, a button for it may appear in File Explorer anyway.

Installation
On some devices and virtual machines, the setup cannot partition the hard drive, requiring the usage of DiskPart.

Windows AntiSpyware
Time displays the 24-hour format but within indicating AM/PM.