Let It Rain Let It Rain

Apple doesn't do much for me. As far as I am concerned they peaked at the iPod classic. I am merely posting this because of the text in the first part of the article...

Atom Heart Mother

I am enjoying my going through and messing with every version of Microsoft Windows that I can get my hands on project.  I am enjoying it very much.

I have, in the past, had the pleasure of playing with Windows Neptune. A vision for the successor of Windows 2000/ME that ended up being scrapped and turned into Windows XP.

I have, in the last few days, been messing with the very early builds of Windows Longhorn.  This is the original vision for Windows Vista.  It looks an awful lot like Windows XP...Because it was built on the Windows XP code.

It ended up being reset after Microsoft decided to A-Focus on improving the overall security for Windows XP and B-It was getting to be way more than the XP code could really handle.  There were too many features that were being planned for Black Comb? or was it Vienna? Whatever 7 was originally code named, that ended up creeping their way into it.

It was planned to be in incremental step (similar to the Windows 98 to Windows 98 Second Edition update is my guess) between XP and 7.  Instead they opted to reset everything and start from scratch with the Windows Server 2003 code.  Honestly, not a poor choice considering how much more stable 2003 was over XP.

Anyway, I will be posting screenshots from one of the last versions of the original Longhorn run in the next couple of days.  I have a few more things I want to do with it before I finish and start posting.

Up Ahead In The Distance I Saw A Shimmering Light Part 1 - Installation

First and foremost be advised that I am doing this eleven years after my initial post on the subject.  I was previously unable to get screenshots of the install process because emulation was not nearly so well developed as it is today (9/4/2017)

*spec data: available as a 3.5gb (32-bit version) or 4.4gb (64-bit version) download in english, german, japanese. minimum requirements: 1-ghz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) cpu, 1gb system ram, graphics processor capable of running windows aero interface, 128mb graphics ram, 40gb hard drive (15gb free), dvd-rom drive, audio output, internet access. recommended: 2gb system ram, 256mb graphics ram. download is free; dvd costs $6.* - Taken from the PCMag.com article Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 2 By John Clyman 6/8/2006.

With that in mind there are a few differences between the virtual hardware of today and the actual hardware of yesteryear.  I'm pretty sure I was rolling with 512mb of RAM, so that is what I set the Virtual PC to roll with today. I cannot remember the video specs or hard drive sizes.  I may find some of that after I look through the original post later on.

*Update 128mb video card and 80gb hard drive. (3/4/2018)*

So, it looks like I was running pretty far below the system requirement on the RAM and right on the minimum with regard to the display adapter.  My guess is I was hoping the processing power or a giant swap file would make up the difference. 

I'd guess I was wrong based on the aftermath.

I'm trying to decide if I am going to update the old screenshots to match the new ones, or just let them be.

Anyway, here is Windows Vista Beta 2 Installation screenshots...Eleven years late.

First off, this is my first exposure with Windows being installed from a DVD Installer Image.  I remember being impressed by it.

By the way, screenshots in Sun VirtualBox are so much easier.

We Were Just Another Band Out Of Boston

Oh the things I do for entertainment sometimes.  I have copies of Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP Professional that are still in something resembling in their original packaging.  All so I can have the "exhilaration" of opening and installing these things for the "first time."

Whoo.

This is on top of my copies of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Home Server 2011, Windows Server 2003 Beta Kit, Windows 95 Upgrade and Windows ME.  I also have an MSDN CD of Windows Codename "Whistler" (XP beta), I have a Windows NT 3.51 Compaq install DVD. These things all, to some extent, have factory packaging as well.

I also have various DVDs lying around consisting of Windows Longhorn (Vista beta) and Windows 7 beta.

Anyway, I am considering making videos of "unboxing" these things when I start to write about them too.

We shall see what we shall see.

Roll With The Changes Part 2 - Text Based Setup

 I ended up with something like 50 screenshots from the setup process alone on this one.  I have, therefore, decided to break the installation up into three parts - Text based, GUI and then the driver/initial configuration sections.


Here be part 1:


This is where I jumped on to the Windows NT bandwagon.   I do not know if this is the installation method from previous versions.  I cannot imagine it would not be, but I currently do not know. I will probably, soon, download the previous versions from WinWorld and find out, but as of this writing this is the earliest I have seen this installer.


There isn't going to be a lot here for me to say, so this will mostly be a  string of screenshots.


Step one: Insert Setup Disk #1 and power on your computer.  If it is set to boot to a floppy first, this is what you are greeted with:

 Follow the prompts for your desired setup.  I went with the Custom Setup option.

 This one is here as it is since I am using Virtual PC.  Just wanted a screen of me Capturing a Floppy Image.

 

That is the worst of the setup done.  Restart and...

Roll With The Changes Part 1 - Overview

I have gotten Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 to install and boot in MS Virtual PC 2004 on an old laptop.  There are going to be more than a few long posts that follow this one.  I think I ended up with 98 screenshots and I have a little more I would like to do before I am finished with it. 

So, with that in mind here is part one...The specs and overview.


Windows NT 3.51

Windows NT 3.51 is the third release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems. It was released on 30 May 1995, nine months after Windows NT 3.5, and three months before the release of Windows 95. The release provided two notable feature improvements; firstly NT 3.51 was the first of a short-lived outing of Microsoft Windows on the PowerPC architecture. The second most significant enhancement offered through the release was that it provides client/server support for interoperating with Windows 95, which was released three months after NT 3.51. Windows NT 4.0 became its successor a year later; Microsoft continued to support Windows NT 3.51 until 31 December 2001.

Overview

The release of Windows NT 3.51 was dubbed "the PowerPC release" at Microsoft. The original intention was to release a PowerPC edition of NT 3.5, but according to Microsoft's David Thompson, "we basically sat around for 9 months fixing bugs while we waited for IBM to finish the Power PC hardware".[2] Editions of NT 3.51 were also released for the x86, MIPS, and Alpha architectures.
New features introduced in Windows NT 3.51 include PCMCIA support, NTFS file compression,[3] replaceable WinLogon (GINA), 3D support in OpenGL, persistent IP routes when using TCP/IP, automatic display of textual descriptions when the mouse pointer was placed on toolbar buttons ("tooltips") and support for Windows 95 common controls.[4]

In view of the significant difference in the kernel base, Windows NT 3.51 is readily able to run a large number of Win32 applications designed for Windows 95. More recent 32-bit applications will not work, as the developers have prevented their application from working with any Windows version earlier than Windows 98; also, because some applications do not work properly with the older Windows NT 3.51 interface.

Despite this, Microsoft in their application releases muddied the issue, releasing 32-bit versions of Microsoft Office right up to Office 97 SR2b, but relying upon 16-bit versions of Internet Explorer technology. This is probably because 32-bit versions of Internet Explorer 4.0 and later integrated with the Windows 95 desktop, and NT 3.51 still used the Windows 3.1 desktop. Thereafter, up to IE 5.0, but no later 5.x versions, were offered. However, the open-source SeaMonkey internet suite supported NT 3.51 through version 1.1.19, released on 16 March 2010; it requires a few manual file updates to work without compromising browsing security.[5][6][7]

NewShell

On 26 May 1995, Microsoft released a test version of a shell refresh, named the Shell Technology Preview, and often referred to informally as "NewShell". This was the first incarnation of the modern Windows GUI with the Taskbar and Start menu. It was designed to replace the Windows 3.x Program Manager/File Manager based shell with Windows Explorer-based graphical user interface. The release provided capabilities quite similar to that of the Windows "Chicago" (codename for Windows 95) shell during its late beta phases; however, it was intended to be nothing more than a test release.[8] There was a second public release of the Shell Technology Preview, called Shell Technology Preview Update made available to MSDN and CompuServe users on 8 August 1995. Both releases held Windows Explorer builds of 3.51.1053.1. The Shell Technology Preview program never saw a final release under NT 3.51. The entire program was moved across to the Cairo development group who finally integrated the new shell design into the NT code with the release of NT 4.0 in July 1996.

Five Service Packs were released for NT 3.51, which introduced both bug fixes and new features. Service Pack 5, for example, fixed issues related to the Year 2000 problem.

NT 3.51 was the last of the series to run on an Intel 80386 processor. This, its ability to use HPFS partitions (which Windows 2000 and later could not),[9] and its ability to run at least some of the common control API, means that it still finds a place for occasional use on older machines. Windows NT 3.51, like other versions of Windows NT 3.x, has some compatibility with OS/2 1.x Applications; however, only text mode applications were supported.

Hardware Requirements

Windows NT 3.51 hardware requirements
Processor -Intel 386 or 486 at 25 MHz
Memory  - Workstation edition: 12 MB, Server edition: 16 MB
Video card  - VGA
Hard disk drive standard - IDE, EIDE, SCSI or ESDI
Free hard disk drive space - 90 MB
Installation media - CD-ROM drive, 1.44 MB or 1.2 MB floppy disk drive or active network connection

I Can Feel One Of My Turns Coming On

The song One of My Turns by Pink Floyd is a very...Interesting(?) song.

There was a man I worked with at Arby's a long, long time ago.  He was telling me one day when we were listening to The Wall that he always thought the guy was a psychopath until he found out that axe was slang for guitar.  Based on the line "into the bedroom, in the suitcase on the left you'll find my favorite axe."

He thought the guy carried around a legit axe until he found out it was actually a guitar. Then he felt better about the song.

I explained to him that the guy was still a psycho.  That was the point of the song.

The previous song on the album (Young Lust) is about Pink picking up a hooker. One of My Turns is about him beating the hooker, and if that doesn't scream psycho then he really needs to get his head checked.

He conceded after actually listening to and paying attention to the song.

Eclipse

All that you touch
All that you see
All that you taste
All you feel.
All that you love
All that you hate
All you distrust
All you save.
All that you give
All that you deal
All that you buy,
beg, borrow or steal.
All you create
All you destroy
All that you do
All that you say.
All that you eat
And everyone you meet
All that you slight
And everyone you fight.
All that is now
All that is gone
All that's to come
and everything under
the sun is in tune
but the sun
is eclipsed by the moon.