Vista is not Longhorn, it’s more of a cousin to it since it is missing some features that were present in Longhorn. Longhorn is back and better than ever, complete with restored WinFS functionality, Aero Glass and the default sidebar that we all know and love.

According to Softpedia, Longhorn was going to sit in Vista’s spot but it had trouble booting on most desktops, this problem has been fixed.

This version of Longhorn is Windows 6.0 build 4074 but it is a slight modification of it, the stability issues have been fixed and there is better hardware support but I do not promise that Vista drivers will work on it nor do I promise that XP drivers will work on it. Most hardware should work, some XP drivers will work and some Vista drivers will work but not everything will.

The serial key needed for activation is listed on the download site so see it for details.  Microsoft has not yet responded to the Joejoe group for distributing the “Longhorn reloaded” package but I have no doubt that Redmond has fired up the lean mean lawyer machine and is in the process of drafting a cease and desist operations order. 

In the meantime feel free to take a trip back in time back to WinFS back to Vista’s routes and download Longhorn build 4074.  Enjoy it while you can folks, on supported hardware you’re looking at a free Vista experience but mind there might be some compatibility issues with hardware and software.

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Entry was posted on Monday, May 28th, 2007 at 2:20 pm under Microsoft, Technology.

Read more entries by Jonathan Schlaffer.
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