Distributed Services Technology Preview build 57

4.01.57.1
	Build of Distributed Services Technology Preview
OS family	Windows NT
Version number	4.01
Build number	57
Build revision	1
Architecture	x86, DEC Alpha, PowerPC
Compiled on	1996-10-29

Distributed Services Technology Preview build 57 is a backport of certain components from an early build of Windows 2000 to Windows NT 4.0. It was released to MSDN subscribers as part of the November 1996 edition of Microsoft's Professional Developers' Conference. It was compiled on 29 October 1996, about 5 months prior to the compilation of the earliest available build of Windows 2000, making it the earliest available build of said components. It is also the only available build of such components compiled for the PowerPC architecture.

A MIPS version was also slated to be released, but was canceled as Microsoft had dropped support for the architecture weeks prior to the event. The installer for these components continued to be compiled until as late as build 1631.

System requirements[edit | edit source]

This build is designed to be installed on top of Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 1. Installing it on a newer service pack may cause errors due to file conflicts.

New features and changes[edit | edit source]

Applications seen in later Windows versions have been added, such as Active Directory Browser (ADSVW.EXE) and Windows Scripting Host (CSCRIPT.EXE, from the Microsoft Cairo project).

Directory Services[edit | edit source]

Directory Services (later known as Active Directory, which shipped in the final release of Windows 2000) has been implemented. The feature allows a server operator to set up a networked domain of client and server machines that communicate with each other. Items in a domain, such as users, computers and registry objects, are represented as objects in the network. A dedicated shell extension allowing the operator to view and manage domain objects is also present in the system and can be accessed directly via the "Directory" shell folder.

The login prompt has been extended with advanced logon options, with the protocols in this build being added being NTLM and Kerberos.

Microsoft Management Console[edit | edit source]

This build includes an early version of Microsoft Management Console (mmc.exe) as well as early versions of a few snap-ins. It is similar to the one found in Windows 2000 build 1515 minus a slightly different design. Due to the early nature of MMC in this build, most snap-ins and MMC itself are barely functional. This build by default includes the following snap-ins:

File Services Management (FSMGMT.MSC)
Service Manager (SERVICES.MSC)

At start, MMC displays various tips to the user, including a reference to a similar Word 6.0 tip:

Please don't run with scissors!!! Didn't you learn anything from our Word Product!

Another tip describes the Microsoft Management Console codename:

The Slate code name for Microsoft Management Console is based on the trend of using stone-related names for system management projects at Microsoft. Slate was selected for its having the shared meaning of being a writing tablet and the activity designated for action.