BetaWiki:Featured article/2023-10
Windows Vista build 5098 is a late Beta 1 build of Windows Vista. It is one of the last builds compiled in the lead-up to the public Beta 1 release; by this point, Microsoft had implemented a substantial amount of features originally outlined in the initial Longhorn project plan, bringing a close to the internal Omega-13 restructuring effort. It is one of the last builds to fully identify itself as Longhorn, as the respective marketing teams would eventually settle on the final Vista name sometime after this build's compilation.
Prior to its public upload, SuperSite for Windows author Paul Thurrott used screenshots of the build in his review of the official Beta 1 release. The build was later documented by Grabberslasher on the UX.Unleaked blog on 2 May 2008, and was subsequently listed on a BetaArchive thread to be released on the forum's FTP server on 23 January 2020 as part of several sets containing 33 builds in total. It was later publicly uploaded onto the FTP server on 27 January 2020, along with pre-reset build 4081.
The build contains a significant amount of functionality changes such as an early implementation of the Internet Explorer 7 web browser, early fundamental work for the Windows Mail e-mail client, support for parental controls, and additional improvements to existing search facilities. Further changes to the underlying Desktop Window Manager stack have also been implemented in the build, dropping support for non-LDDM-compliant graphics hardware.