Development of Windows Vista

Some of this article's listed sources may not be reliable. Please help improve this article by looking for better, more reliable sources. Unreliable citations may be challenged and removed. (April 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The development of Windows Vista began in May 2001,^[1] prior to the release of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system, and continuing until November 2006.

Microsoft originally expected to ship Vista sometime late in 2003 as a minor step between Windows XP (codenamed "Whistler") and the next planned major release of Windows, code-named "Blackcomb".^[2] Vista's original codename, "Longhorn", was an allusion to this plan: While Whistler and Blackcomb are large ski resorts in British Columbia, Longhorn is the name of a bar between the two mountains that Whistler's visitors pass to reach Blackcomb.

Gradually, Windows "Longhorn" assimilated many of the important new features and technologies slated for "Blackcomb", resulting in the release date being pushed back a few times. Many of Microsoft's developers were also re-tasked with improving the security of Windows XP. Faced with ongoing delays and concerns about feature creep, Microsoft announced on August 27, 2004, that it was making significant changes. "Longhorn" development started afresh, building on the Windows Server 2003 code-base, and re-incorporating only the features that would be intended for an actual operating system release. Some previously announced features, such as WinFS and NGSCB, were dropped or postponed.

After "Longhorn" was named Windows Vista in mid-2005, an unprecedented beta-test program was started which involved hundreds of thousands of volunteers and companies. Between September 2005 and October 2006, Microsoft released regular Community Technology Previews (CTP) to beta testers and two release candidates to the general public. Development of Windows Vista concluded with the November 8, 2006 announcement of its completion by co-president of Windows development, Jim Allchin.

A common misconception about "Longhorn" and its builds was about its well-known sound schemes that have been circulating around the internet for many years, which for a long time was often thought to be the ones that replaced the Windows XP sounds.^[3] Many themes and videos of Windows "Longhorn" on the internet featured these aforementioned sound schemes. In reality, however, these sound schemes are actually part of a theme originally created by Samsung for Windows XP in 2003.^[4] All of the many known "Longhorn" builds used Windows XP sounds up until Build 5840.16389, alternating with a few Windows Vista sounds introduced in certain post-reset builds.