Don't we all just love Longhorn?

Well, the Longhorn SE project is about doing what the Longhorn Reloaded project attempted, however doing it legally.
"How can you do this legally?", you ask. Well, Longhorn SE is more of an update of Longhorn 4074 instead of a custom OS. Once you have installed Longhorn build 4074, you download the Longhorn SE Updater from our FTP server/website and run it.

The Longhorn SE Updater basically downloads updated files and replaces the old ones from your Longhorn 4074 install with new, Longhorn SE ones. This process may take approximately 10-20 minutes depending on the speed of your internet connection and the speed of your hard drive.

The Longhorn SE Updater is built using Visual Basic .NET 2010 building on the .NET Framework v2.0.50727. However, since v2.0.31113 is the version included in Longhorn, normally the updater won't run. You can't really install v2.0.50727 on Longhorn 4074 easily either. Thus, I will likely make a .NET v2.0.50727 installer for Longhorn (thank you very much for figuring out what registry keys and files I need to install VMware ThinApp!).

I'll post screenshots of an alpha version of the updater soon

I look forward to an update. It'll be interesting to see how stable you can get it, even though 4074 (imo) is the most stable 4xxx Longhorn build.

Ah. I see

[censored] the EULA!

Yeah, [censored] the EULA... you know what, let's make it like LHR, as in distribute a LH 4074 ISO with it... and have a custom installer... I don't think MS will care much now that they've actually released Vista. You're right, they probably shut down LHR because they hadn't released Vista yet.

How far are you into the project atm?

Not far at the moment. I'm first working on the installer (which is actually nearing completion) then comes the "fun" part of getting developers and getting the project off the ground.

sounds like a great endeavor, I wish you best of luck and will keep an eye on your thread

UPDATE:

The Longhorn SE Bootable ISO will be custom, made from a Windows PE 3(?) image (which is itself powered by a really, really slimmed down version of Windows 7 that could probably run on 256MB RAM). The reason for this is that it'll offer more customization ability for the LHSE installer.



Longhorn SE builds will be in the 41xx and higher branch of builds.

ACCEPTING POSITIONS
I'm now accepting positions for:
Developer
Graphics Designer
Tester


Make a post if you want to apply for any of these!

Good luck with this project, but to be honest, i don't think you'll get far. longhorn 4074 is just too buggy. The memory leak, the missing compatibility to newer drivers, the broken network stack, the broken DWM and many missing features make this build too alpha to get it fixed properly. But I'd be happy if you'd succeed with this

I can do that, I'm a Photoshop whiz. And you know what? I've always wanted to be included in a project like one of these. I'll give it a shot.

Photoshop designer position and tester accepted.
BTW, will this build up on the Longhorn 08 B2 Patch, or it's all new?
(I can give you the LH fixpack, BTW, and see my topic about Longhorn to see how it can do DWM. It's buggy, but it's sexy.)

if you can git the xp sp3 kernial hacked into it you will likely solve alot of the issues

Why is every longhorn project based on Longhorn build 4074 or 3718 ? Builds 4028 and 4053 are quite stable too. 4074 has no functional features except buggy Aero.

because 4074 looks good those two are bland and basicly just xp and server 2003

While creating it, please remove the Timebomb and experation.

4028 is quite stable and have some features as Carousel and Panorama view, updated plex theme. Many sidebar titles. Functional version of WinFS. Hidden DCE effects.
4053 has basically functional WinFS put out of box as separate drive. You can install there Visual Studio codename Whibey and build some lh applications, sidebar titles.

4074 is in my opinion the build that gives you the best "longhorn feeling". It is the only build that has full aero and DWM out of box. But it would be great to see someone getting aero with DWM to work on 4053, which is a quite solide base, with some files from 4074 and 4066. That'd make the project a bit more special and not one of all those other longhorn projects which existed before. Go and give it a shot, technically, it is possible, it has been done with 4053/4093 and some files of 4074 before

Did I am the only here who very more like Whistler (whistler 2001 included) than Longhorn?

@Derf and @PortalCake: I'll PM you guys in the next few days or so when the project needs some graphics
@PortalCake: I'll PM you when there's something to test - it'll probably be rather soon to test a near-final stage of the installer. Also, it might be built on-top of the 08 pack to give us something to start from. Not sure about that yet.

@hurricanegeek921: Yeah, that's obvious... who wants to live with a timebomb?

The installer will be a custom installer, made from Windows PE 3 (based off the core of Windows 7), the .NET Framework v2.0.50727, and Visual Basic .NET 2010 (don't underestimate the power of Visual Basic - I'm pretty much a guru in VB.NET )

If you're going to use the Longhorn 08 system as a base, you should both credit the Longhorn 08 team, and bring something substantially new. I know a lot of the old Longhorn 08 team are tired of people taking our work, rebranding it, and releasing it as their own new 'work' *cough*SigmaOS*cough*.

im not sure he is basing it on your work
i think your work was inspiration for him

If I do use it as a base, I'll be sure to do that.
But the point is that as angelwolf71885 said, I may or may not use it.

Yeah, feel free to private message me whenever. These sorts of projects always interested me, and I'm a huge Longhorn fan, and I found myself having quite a bit of free time for some reason another, so this will be fun.