Antitrust docs: Neptune, Triton and Odyssey

[DeFacto]

Here's the list of all the Antitrust/Microsoft vs Comes docs that either directly or indirectly mention/reffer to Microsoft codenames Neptune, Triton and Odyssey:

PX03073
PX03097
PX03277 - "Neptune/NT6 team"
PX03924 - "NT5.1"
PX03937
PX06262 - "NT 6"
PX06407 - "Big bang NT6 release"
PX06451
PX06472
PX06565
PX06566
PX06607
PX06612
PX06670
PX06671
PX06672
PX06685
PX06689
PX06705
PX06720 - "Odyssey"
PX06747
PX07297
PX08182
PX09637 - "Neptune/NT6"

The point of this post is to give you a better insight into Neptune and Odyssey and to prove that Odyssey did indeed exist, perhaps it was even compiled as suggested in PX06720:

However, from our work on Neptune, Odyssey, and other projects, we have great ideas and
plans we can build from

[icezer0z]

thanks, this'll get me some insight with odyssey

[dans34]

Nice work , Im starting a wiki project to document the Anti trust documents

http://www.betaarchive.com/wiki/index.p ... trust_Docs

[DeFacto]

If I find any other, I'll post the links here. I may also update a few Wiki articles with the info provided in these docs...

[DeFacto]

Found another one, PX06747, though it's just another updated copy of a previous doc...

[betaluva]

So it looks like the Anitrust document px06270 proves what i have been saying for years,that Windows XP new startmenu was ripped from a Windows Millenium alpha build and reused in Whistler:


* cause they wouldnt need to port the Windows Millenium RTM shell to Whistler,its just the Windows 2000 shell?

[dans34]

So it looks like the Anitrust document px06270 proves what i have been saying for years,that Windows XP new startmenu was ripped from a Windows Millenium alpha build and reused in Whistler:
* cause they wouldnt need to port the Windows Millenium RTM shell to Whistler,its just the Windows 2000 shell?

i doubt that they had the new startmenu in ME then removed it for RTM

[DeFacto]

Unless there was some other UI in Millennium that we don't know about (yet)...

[WinPC]

Actually, it is indeed referring to the updated shell in Windows Me (Millenium Edition). From what I remember, and from what I've seen of it, although Windows Me (Millenium Edition) shared the same user interface as that of Windows 2000, it had certain updates, such as the simplified Control Panel style, among other things.

If you would install some of the earlier Whistler builds of which were compiled after Build 2202, you can clearly see that the updates to the Explorer shell of which were implemented in the Windows Me (Millenium Edition) version, such as the updated Control Panel, were later reimplemented into the Whistler feature set.

[betaluva]

So it looks like the Anitrust document px06270 proves what i have been saying for years,that Windows XP new startmenu was ripped from a Windows Millenium alpha build and reused in Whistler:
* cause they wouldnt need to port the Windows Millenium RTM shell to Whistler,its just the Windows 2000 shell?

i doubt that they had the new startmenu in ME then removed it for RTM

This was at the point in time when Bill gates made himself in charge of Windows developement again, he took one look at Windows Millenium and went "waste of time, save all the good bits for our new major release (whistler/xp) just get it working and RTM it", Rose Vines did a review of a Windows Millenium beta build, she noted in the article that she had used a alpha build that had a new startmenu,it contained the usual destop icons ( my computer etc) and it would have links for your most used applications,she also stated that it was VERY buggy and incomplete and would cause windows to crash,she said that the new startmenu had been ripped out and saved for a future major release of Windows, i REALLY wish i had kept that article.

[DeFacto]

Sorry for the bump, but here are another two mentioning Neptune: PX06612 and PX06451

Also found PX06325, but I'm not sure if it's about the same Neptune we know...

[DeFacto]

Here's a major update guys: the PX03277 that talks about Office 2000, constantly mentions "NT6" and at page 16 it says: "...Neptune/NT6..."... We know Neptune had version 5.50, so what does NT6 really reffer to? Well, obviously to Neptune's successor, which is either Triton (planned as the minor update to Neptune) or Odyssey (planned as the next bussiness version of NT).

In conclusion, now we know that either Triton or Odyssey were to have the NT version number 6.0... The document is from 1998, when Windows NT 5.0 (later named 2000) and Office 2000 were being developed and Neptune and Triton were in planning stages.

[hounsell]

I think that other documents lend more to Odyssey being NT 6.0 rather than Triton, which was at best a "minor update". In some cases, it's even more described as a service pack if I remember correctly.

[TheCollector1988]

Here's a major update guys: the PX03277 that talks about Office 2000, constantly mentions "NT6" and at page 16 it says: "...Neptune/NT6..."... We know Neptune had version 5.50, so what does NT6 really reffer to? Well, obviously to Neptune's successor, which is either Triton (planned as the minor update to Neptune) or Odyssey (planned as the next bussiness version of NT).

In conclusion, now we know that either Triton or Odyssey were to have the NT version number 6.0... The document is from 1998, when Windows NT 5.0 (later named 2000) and Office 2000 were being developed and Neptune and Triton were in planning stages.

at least, it soft of confirms that Odyssey should have been 6.0 (though still not sure)

[hounsell]

Looking at the Office document, it seems to constantly refer to NT 6 as having "major UI changes", hence the Office team's interest. Other documents all suggest Triton would have no major UI changes, so it can't be referring to that. I'd say Odyssey is the most likely candidate.

[DeFacto]

Yes, that's what I though too. Triton was a minor update that could fit in a service pack but it was an entirely sepparate OS... I'll check other docs from that era (98-00) that mention "NT6".

Seems like the fog around Odyssey is being reduced...

[hounsell]

What we really need is a table or something that lists the date of the document it's mentioned in, how it's referred to (ie, "Odyssey", "NT6", etc) and what it mentions about it, so we can keep track of what fits together and how it developed over time.

The Wiki might be a good place for this.

[DeFacto]

OK, I'll get that up soon...

At his point I can tell you the following:

-PX06720: Mentions "Odyssey"
-PX03277: Mentions "NT6"
-PX09637: Mentions "NT6"
-PX06407: Mentions "NT6"
-PX06382: Mentions "NT6"
-PX06262: Mentions "NT6"

[hounsell]

Started a quick table on the Odyssey page. It'll probably want some touching up first, but we could also use this for other projects mentioned, like Cougar, Cairo and NepTune?

[Nightsteed]

This is interesting. It seems like Thurrot was right about Odyssey being NT6

[DeFacto]

Started a quick table on the Odyssey page. It'll probably want some touching up first, but we could also use this for other projects mentioned, like Cougar, Cairo and NepTune?

I've been searching extensively trought the documents looking for references, I found several MS-DOS 5.0 builds and other goodies.

This thread is meant for Neptune, Triton and Odyssey anyway, so if I find anything else I'll add it to wiki and maybe post here on the forum...

[hounsell]

Had a look through some of the docs posted at the top of the thread, and there's some interesting references in there.

Neptune will be the first chance we get to deliver our improved storage system, based on the Platinum store

This caught my eye - especially after it was a sizable section on "Windows Schemas", which look remarkably similar in concept to what later popped up as the data schema system in WinFS.

Anyone know anything else about this "Platinum store"? Looks like it might be a previously-unknown step of the long OFS->WinFS story...

[DeFacto]

First time I heard about it, but it's definetly interesting... Could this possibly mean a new file system?

Anyway, on the wiki page I added 5 more docs I mentioned ealirer and changed the date format so they can now be sorted by date properly...

[hounsell]

I've fleshed out the details column a bit more for those docs present.

[DeFacto]

Great job Hounsell, I think we should do this for all releases...