Key: CKY24-Q8QRH-X3KMR-Q6BCY-T847Y
BIOS: 09/24/2002
Windows Longhorn build 3683 is currently the earliest build, leaked to the public by the WiNBETA team on November 19th, 2002. Built on .NET Server 2003 RC Code (3663.main), 3683 is the first Milestone 3 build. It contains a number of new features and changes from XP, such as the inclusion of the Sidebar, which is a part of explorer.
An early version of the Desktop Composition Engine (DCE) built on Avalon is included in this build and is functional but is known to only work on real hardware. To enable it, enter the following text in Notepad on your Longhorn machine, save it as a registry file and import it through the Registry Editor. A guide on making and importing files for the Registry Editor can be found here.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DesktopComposition]
"StartupOptions"=dword:00000001
Reboot, and run the following:
rundll32 user32.dll,StartDCE
The Desktop Composition Engine should work. It lacks a User Interface to enable/disable it as well as animations for windows as seen in later builds.
To disable it, run the following:
rundll32 user32.dll,StopDCE
Built on the newly introduced Avalon Presentation Layer, the new Sidebar is introduced in this build and fully functional. The Sidebar makes use of XML-based applications called "Tiles" that can be added, removed, customized and moved around. The Sidebar features a clock with a Longhorn logo, Legacy Notifications, a Virtual Desktop Tile, and other tiles. To enable the Sidebar, right click on the Taskbar, go to Properties and click "Enable the Sidebar" . The Sidebar can be combined with the taskbar, allowing you to have the functionality of both in one location. As stated, the Sidebar is a part of explorer.exe and is known to cause memory leaks and crashing in some instances. Disabling it will help in fixing that.
As with most of the previously discussed features, the new Display Properties Panel is based on Avalon, but is not fully functional. It gives you options to change your screensaver, background, among other options, however, some of the links do not work. As such, you can use the old Display Properties panel. Since the code for Avalon was vastly changing even early on, later builds as early as 3706 would already depreciate this new panel, eventually removing it entirely.
A new feature named Windows Trust Manager has been introduced. It is a security feature which asks the user if they want to install certain programs prior to the installation process. Applications are rated by their safety risk level. Only certain applications which make use of Avalon will prompt the new feature to appear. Trust Manager would eventually make its way into Windows Vista as User Account Control.
Longhorn Castles
"Castles", a new networking system which allows users to share files between local networks has been introduced. Its primary purpose was to simplify the process of file sharing across different devices connected to the same network. Though this would not make it into Windows Vista, it was later re-implemented as "HomeGroup" in Windows 7.
This build contains a new dialogue for the introduction of Briefcases. To enable it, run "rundll32 syncui.dll,Briefcase_IntroW".
A new Replace File dialogue box with UI similar to that of Aero Wizards is included in this build but not enabled by default. To enable it, go to "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer" in the Registry Editor and set the DWORD value "NewResolve" to 1.
A new visual style, "Plex", is introduced in this build and replaces Luna as the default theme. It features a new Longhorn background, a blue Start Menu, Taskbar and window borders as well as the blue Sidebar. Much like the Watercolor theme from builds of Windows XP, it was used as a decoy theme while Microsoft was working on an early version of Aero seen in early 40xx builds.
The NT Version has been increased to 6.0.
A new drive space indicator--this will display the space used and remaining on all visible drives in My Computer. This feature eventually made its way into Windows Vista years later!
You can enable the Media Center components in the build. To learn how, see here.
A very early iteration of the Start Page is introduced in this build but not enabled by default. To enable it, see here.
A new login screen is introduced. It features a clock and now requires the user to enter Ctrl-Alt-Del to log on.
A prototype of a Game Manager is introduced. Files with a .GDF (Game Definition) extension are recognized by Explorer. You can also open a newly added "My Games News" window by running "mgui /news general".
A new device manager, My Hardware, has been introduced, accessible via the Start menu.
Explorer has been updated to show an expanded panel in certain folders which provides links to frequent actions a user would make relative to the folder.
Milestone 3 Build | Architectures: x86
Did you know?
Although this is the first publicly leaked build of Longhorn, earlier builds are rumored to exist, such as 3663, and 3670.
This build is also slightly modified by WiNBETA, who leaked this build back in 2002; a copy of this build without modifications is believed to exist.