Windows 7 build 6568

Windows 7 build 6568 is a Milestone 2 build of Windows 7 that was uploaded to BetaArchive by Grabberslasher on 28 January 2020 as an x64 Enterprise SKU VHD. Prior to being uploaded to the aforementioned website, various screenshots of this build were shared by dj_cityboy.

New features and changes

 * The boot screen from Windows Vista is used by default. The aurora one from build 6519 can be seen by enabling the "No GUI Boot" option in System Configuration.

User Interface

 * An option to show the desktop via a button has been added to the right-hand side of the taskbar. A similar Show Desktop button also appeared on the taskbar in Windows 98 build 1415 and Windows 2000 build 1796.1 and when installing Internet Explorer 4 Platform Preview 1 with its shell enhancements on Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0.
 * Links to open the Gadget Gallery and Display settings have been added to the desktop context menu.
 * The "Feedback Button" desktop shortcut has been removed, later reappearing in build 6780 as a Control Panel applet named "Send feedback" with a new icon.
 * The cyan line in the bottom and right borders of the window in the Aero theme were recolored to be white. The title bar buttons have also been enlarged.

Windows Explorer

 * The navigation pane has been simplified, now showing frequent places within the System (Favorites, Libraries, Computer, and Network) by default.
 * The classic Windows Vista view can be re-enabled within Folder options. It's appearance has changed however, combining favorites and folders into a single view.
 * A few notable changes were made to the command bar with this build.
 * A toggle to enable/disable the preview pane has been added to the right-side of the command bar.
 * The dropdown/toggle for changing views has been moved over to the right-side.
 * The new gradient, first seen in build 6469, has been reverted back to the one seen in Windows Vista.

Control Panel

 * The personalization applet has an updated UI, making it easier for users to save and select themes.
 * With this change, the original themes applet first introduced in Windows XP build 2250 has been removed.
 * The Display applet was added with this build, which includes a simplified UI for change DPI scaling.
 * The previous UI is still included for those who need it.
 * The Display settings applet from Windows Vista is still used for changing resolutions.
 * The Windows Security Center has been replaced with Windows Health, which would later become Action Center in the RTM build.

Applications

 * Windows Photo Gallery has been removed.
 * XPS Viewer EP has been renamed to drop the "EP" and TS Workspaces has been removed.
 * An updated version of sticky notes is present in this build alongside Vista's sticky notes.

Superbar
To enable the Superbar, open the Registry editor, go to, create a DWORD value called  , and set its value to.

Bluepill
Paint and Calculator have both received updates. Paint includes multiple new brushes and shapes, and the Calculator now has a unit converter, alongside calculator modes for programmer, scientific, and statistics. Aero Peek is also now available.

Out-of-box experience
The OOBE does not utilize the Windows Basic theme, instead using a fallback one based on Windows Classic and Arial. For some reason, the copyright year on the first page of the OOBE—where you select your country/region, time/currency and keyboard layout settings—is 2006 instead of 2007. This was most likely a typo or a leftover from older Windows Vista builds.

Desktop Window Manager
Desktop Window Manager requires either compatible hardware or using 9.x compatibility or older in VMware Workstation with 8.x drivers.