Hello everybody and welcome back to another video!
Today we’re going to be talking all about Windows 7: the operating system released by Microsoft
in 2009, meant to succeed Windows Vista which was released 3 years earlier. While Windows
Vista was widely criticized when it launched, Windows 7 on the other hand was met with a lot of
praise. When it was released, it quickly surpassed Vista in market share, and years later did the
same to XP. And even though Microsoft killed off support for the operating system back in
January, it still holds about 20% of Windows computer market share worldwide. In today’s
video, we’re going to be exploring the development process that eventually led to the creation of
Windows 7. I’ll be taking you through 4 unique builds of the operating system compiled during
different stages of the development process, and discussing some of the major changes that
occured over the years. Let’s get started! As I discussed in my Windows 7 End of Support
video, the initial idea for what would eventually become Windows 7 was actually devised 20 years
ago, even before Windows XP was released. Microsoft came up with a road map detailing their
plans for the next 3 releases of Windows. One of these releases was known as Blackcomb, which
was scheduled to debut sometime after Longhorn, which became Vista, and Whistler, which became
XP. It’s important to note that the Blackcomb project didn’t go exactly as planned, which
I discuss in more detail in my end of support video. It wouldn’t be until the summer of
2007 when it was revealed that Microsoft was working on a new release of Windows to
succeed Vista. It’s codename was Windows 7, which ultimately became the final, public release
name. 3 months after that, on October 2nd 2007, Microsoft compiled Build 6469 of Windows 7.
This is a Pre-Milestone 1 build, and it is actually the second earliest development build
of Windows 7 known to exist. For the most part it resembles the previous release of Windows,
as most early development builds do. However, in the initial setup process we can see that
the copyright date has been changed to 2007, and the build string at the bottom of the screen is
identifying itself as “Windows Codename “Windows 7””. Besides that the setup process is identical
to Vista. The logon screen still displays the “Windows Vista” logo at the bottom, which can also
be seen in WinVer. This particular build is based on the Business SKU of Windows Vista. One major
change we can see in WinVer is the NT version, which has been changed to 6.1 (which would
be Windows 7’s NT version). Everything about the desktop screams Vista, except for a couple
of notable changes. Probably the most visible modification is the slight design change to the
taskbar. And just like in the setup process, the build string is displayed on the desktop
in the bottom right. There’s also a new “How to Share Feedback” icon on the desktop. When opened,
an application with an embedded webpage appears explaining how to share feedback and identify
issues to be fixed in future builds. One of the other cool things we can do is enable a very early
version of the SuperBar, the larger taskbar that would be introduced with Windows 7. This is
done by adding a key to the Windows Registry. Interestingly enough, all User Account Control
prompts when opening Microsoft applications will now say “WEX Build Account” in place of “Microsoft
Windows”. In the registry, we can go into HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer and create a new key called “TaskBand”. Then add
a new DWORD value named “CanHasSuperbar” and give it a value of 1. Once Explorer is restarted, the
new taskbar will appear. While it's obviously not feature complete in this build, the concept is
here. And it does actually make a few changes, aside from just making the taskbar larger. The
center of the taskbar is a lighter grey color, and the buttons will now group if you have 2
windows from the same application open. One feature that has been removed is the classic
Start Menu, which can no longer be enabled in this build. There’s also a hidden boot screen
accessible by enabling No GUI boot. This boot screen was not included with the final release
of Windows 7, so it's kinda cool to see here. 2 months later, Microsoft developers compiled
Build 6519 of Windows 7. This is a Milestone 1 build and was the first to be released to
Microsoft Partners. Like the previous build I showcased, 6519 largely resembles Vista.
However one major change is with the boot screen. It now displays the setup background
with a loading animation at the bottom. This boot screen would not be seen in the final
release of Windows 7. The setup process is mostly identical to what we saw in the last
build, however this one is a multi SKU build, meaning that we can select from a list of Windows
editions to install. The EULA also identifies the OS as “Microsoft Pre-Release Windows 7 Operating
System”, and the build string has been removed from the bottom right. Our first sign of change
is on the login screen, where the image at the bottom now says “Windows 7” as opposed to “Windows
Vista”. This is also seen in WinVer. The build string is still seen on the desktop, however this
time, the Windows Codename text has been removed. There have also been some changes made to the
gadgets, as the sidebar has now been entirely removed. This is exactly how Windows 7 behaved.
There’s also a new gadget asking the user to rate their experience. When clicked, a form will pop
out which could be used to submit feedback to the developers. The Feedback icon on the desktop
has been changed as well, and it opens up the same window that we saw on the gadget. Although this
time it's a dedicated window, as opposed to a gadget pop out. Additionally in the system tray,
the overflow icons now have a pop out interface, similar to the final build of Windows 7. There’s
also an interesting feature in AutoRun. It has a timer! After 10 seconds, it will automatically
perform the default action, which in this case is “Open folder to view files”. This feature would
not be present in the final release of Windows 7. Our next build to take a look at is Build 6608,
a Milestone 2 build compiled on May 11th 2008. The boot screen and setup process are identical
to what we saw in the previous build, with one major exception. The logo has been changed and now
identifies itself as “Windows 7”. Same with the version string at the bottom right. Another big
inclusion is the “Show Desktop” button seen in the bottom right next to the system tray. This would
also be a feature introduced in the final release of Windows 7. At first glance, this appears to
be the only change made on the desktop. However, there are a couple of hidden features that can
be enabled. These features are protected by Microsoft’s Bluepill lockdown system. Essentially
this system would protect certain features from getting discovered in the event of a leaked build.
However, there have been some attempts to patch certain operating system files to enable access
to these hidden features. Once we run the tool and restart our Windows session, you’ll notice
that the Superbar is back with some additional changes. Now, the application icons will no longer
display text. There is still grouping of icons, but a new arrow has been added to the right
side of each icon as you hover over it that reveals options including pinning the program
to the taskbar. There have also been some major changes to a couple of the default Windows
programs. The calculator looks nothing like what we saw in Vista or Windows 7. It’s
totally new. There’s also a unit conversion feature built right in. Microsoft Paint is
the other program where we can see changes, but it still looks more like the Vista version
of Paint than what we saw in Windows 7. However, if you look on the left side you can see some new
buttons. These are actually different types of pens that you can use to draw with. The buttons
themselves are using placeholder icons though. As for the feedback program: while the icon has
been removed from the desktop, we can still access the program in the start menu. The application
itself is entirely different, and now asks you to log in using a Windows Live ID. Additionally,
there’s a new icon in the system tray for the ‘Windows Health Center” which appears to be
an early version of Windows 7’s Action Center. Windows 7 Build 6780 is a Milestone
3 build compiled on August 29th 2008, about 11 months before Windows 7 would officially
launch. It’s in this build where we can see many more visual changes. The setup wizard finally gets
a new background, which is also used on the login screen. This is the same background that would be
used on these screens in the Public Beta release of Windows 7. The desktop wallpaper however
is still from Vista. The boot screen has also been changed in this build. It now says “Starting
Windows” similar to in the final release, but with a different animation. The Feedback icon is back
on the desktop, and this time its functionality is stored in the Control Panel as opposed to
a separate application. And just like in the previous build, 6780 updates the design of a few
Windows applications. The calculator looks more like what we saw in the final release of Windows
7. And Paint and WordPad have been redesigned with the ribbon interface. The Windows Explorer also
got a redesign, with the addition of Libraries, a feature introduced with Windows 7. Once again,
we can run the Bluepill patcher to get access to some of the hidden features. Interestingly
enough User Account Control prompts in this build do not fade the background out. It behaves like a
standard window. Upon logging back in, you can see that the taskbar has been completely redesigned,
and looks closer to the final implementation. There are a few minor differences though: we still
see the little arrow when hovering over icons, and the icons themselves appear to be
slightly more spaced out in this build. So those are some of the major changes in 6780.
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join Skillshare today and start learning! On January 8th, 2009, just over 4
months after build 6780 was compiled, Microsoft released the first publicly available
beta version of Windows 7. This release, known as build 7000, was made available
for download on Microsoft’s website. It provided the general public with a first
look at the next release of Windows, which would ultimately debut 6 months later in
July of 2009. As such, this beta is very close to the final release. The only major difference
at first glance is the desktop wallpaper: a betta fish. A little play on words that also
signifies that this is a beta release of Windows. So there you have it everybody. That is
a retrospective look at the development history of Windows 7 over the years. I hope
you all enjoyed this video. If you did, definitely be sure to give it a like
and get subscribed. And as always, I want to thank you all so much for watching
and I will see you in the next video.
