The December Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Windows Vista will be build 5276, plus or minus one build, I was told today. Beta testers, Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers, and TechNet members can expect to see the December CTP in a week or 10 days. It includes many new features compared with the previous CTP in October, but it isn’t the feature-complete version of Vista that Microsoft promised to deliver in December. Microsoft will deliver that version internally this month, but testers won’t see a feature-complete CTP until January or February.

Speaking of Vista, you might recall that Microsoft had originally planned to deliver three versions of the new UI, called Aero Glass, Aero Express, and Aero To Go. Those plans have been revised. Now, Microsoft will offer two modes only, called Windows Vista Aero (which includes the glass effects) and Windows Vista Basic, which is roughly like the Windows XP display. However, the capabilities of the three previous modes are still there: Vista Aero is the equivalent of Aero Glass, and you can get the equivalent of Aero Express by turning off the translucency effects while running Vista Aero. The best news? Contrary to rumors, you’ll need only a 64MB video card with 3-D capabilities to run Vista Aero on a typical PC .

View: Full Story
Source: WindowsITPro via MSFN