Windows Neptune Build 5111

[tariqm]

I am gonna be talking about Windows Neptune Build 5111. It is based on Windows 2000 Pro and setup is a little different. Some parts still say Windows 2000 including the WINVER. One copy of Neptune had its logo in the WINVER and does not include "Under Construction". Most copies don't have a timebomb but in the BA FTP Servers, it it ORIGINAL meaning it does have a timebomb and requires a product key. Most don't need a key. There's the Welcome Screen but unfortunately, you can't switch between users but in Whistler and above, you can do so. Most copies also are bootable but at the "Welcome to Setup" stage, it refers itself as Windows 2000 Pro but the ORIGINAL is not bootable. Neptune was the successor for home users while Odyssey was for business users. During late 2000, Windows Millennium Edition was released as an interim home release. Can someone please tell me more about this version of Windows based on 2000???

[Lukas Marsik]

Primary aim
Neptune was aimed to be a bridge between NT and 9X, basically what XP became, the sort-of main aim was better multimedia support out of box as well as making older 16bit apps work better.

Project specific (also ME related) aims
Neptune-specific aims were the Activity Centers which were present in a few ME builds as well, one of them being 2365, this one featured the Activity Centers with their look similar to the one we can see on Paul Thurott's WinSuperSite, they also supposedly include the missing Media Center and Photo Center which are not in 5111 (Game Center was not planned at that time).
One of the multimedia signs of Neptune is that it includes the 9x Scanners & Cameras interface in explorer which is unfortunately broken out of box but not really hard to get working properly. Regarding Activity Centers, they were entirely HTC/HTA/HTM/CSS based, the Dll/Counterpart responsible for rendering them is Mars.exe and Marscore.dll which is almost identical to XP's PCHShell.dll, this also meant that the included login screen was done entirely in HTM and JS, an User Accounts control panel was present already, its name was Windows Identities.
Then there we have features which were not really scrapped, rather features that did not make it into Whistler, that is Fast Start or internally called Fastbike which was very similar to how Windows 8's hybrid boot works though it required no NTFS volumes to be present in the system, including Windows' volume itself, meaning you needed to install on FAT32 formatted partition in order for this to work.
On Neptune's first boot, an utility called Joindom.exe executes which asks you to provide the username of the first user account to create (except Administrator), we can think of it as an early predcessor to the XP account creation in OOBE, the file in Neptune actually contains strings like Neptune OOBE.
There is a new Setup feature which seems to be present just in Neptune, there is an utility called Onetouch.exe which claims to be a Neptune-to-Neptune Upgrade executable and seems to be functioning as a sort of application that upgrades you to a newer (if existing) build of Neptune by downloading files from MS' servers, kind of like the Dynamic Update for Windows Setup we have when upgrading to Windows XP or newer but instead of just updating setup, it would update the files it would install as well. This sort of functionality can be actually found in Windows 8.1 Build 9483, in the internal metro app "mySelfhost".
There were also fully Automatic Updates as we see them in XP and newer systems.
In the properties of a network connection, you can check a checkbox to enable Firewall for that connection, however it is not known if that feature works or is there just until it gets implemented.

Why "(also ME related)"? The development of Neptune and ME was parallel which is the main reason of why are some features directly copied over from ME. For example Automatic Updates, Activity Centers and Help & Support.

Beta-specific features
Neptune introduced the new HTM based Help & Support which was a direct copy from build 2422 if I remember correctly. As any other post-Windows 2000 beta, Neptune featured the "Comments?" HyperLink to the left of window caption buttons which opened a small dialog where you could select the type and severity of error you encountered, as well as describing what happened.

The differencies
Unlike other betas with a 180 day timebomb period, Neptune sported a 444 day timebomb.
Another thing to denote is that Neptune does not ask for the Administrator's account password during setup, exactly like Windows XP Home Edition, there is also no Computer Name generated by default and the default workgroup is MSHOME instead of WORKGROUP.

The project cancellation
Seemingly after cancelling the Neptune project, Microsoft has focused at Whistler. The same day Neptune got cancelled, a ME build was compiled, it was build 2452 and held the name of Beta 2 Refresh instead of the regular Beta 2 although Activity Centers seemed to get cancelled even earlier as already build 2419's betacln.inf deletes existing Activity Centers files.

Neptune (Server) references
Whistler builds up to build 2250 save the bug reports to C:\neptune_bugs, later ones save to C:\whistler_bugs.
There are also multiple references to "Neptune Server" in some installer files however it is just believed to be a leftover from the rebranding from Windows 2000 to Microsoft Neptune.

Misc. info
The CD also has multidsk.exe on it which does not get installed however you can run it directly from there, it enables a multiple desktop environment.

[MouseOnMars]

Can someone please tell me more about this version of Windows based on 2000???

nothing much to tell

its win2000 pumped with broken activity centers
the only one who fixed them was KenOath

at the end you can only see some predecessor of win8 init

[tariqm]

Well, Neptune included "Fast Boot Mode" which eventually returned in Windows 8 (which sucks due to the Start Menu becoming the Start Screen and the UEFI methood of booting instead of BIOS). Unfortunately, this feature is only available if you installed Neptune on a FAT32 partition. But interestingly, you can run most Windows 2000-based programs in this version since it is based off of Windows 2000. Some apps require SP4 which unfortunately can't be installed because it can ruin and screw up your installation.

[jagotu]

Thanks for all the info, Lukas Marsik. We need more posts like that

[dans34]

Thanks for all the info, Lukas Marsik. We need more posts like that

all that and more is on the wiki

looks like it was taken from there anyway

[Lukas Marsik]

all that and more is on the wiki

looks like it was taken from there anyway

No it was not, if it was, it would actually be shorter as some stuff is NOT on the wiki..
I was writing it as the stuff came into my mind, thus unparagraphed, a bit long and not ordered and categorized properly, I will reformat the post to look more decent today.
Also, regarding wiki, you could fix up your sandbox neptune tutorials for mstsc as they just freeze the OS, there are more steps need to be done.

[dans34]

No it was not, if it was, it would actually be shorter as some stuff is NOT on the wiki..

if you could point out any new info that would be awesome

Also, regarding wiki, you could fix up your sandbox neptune tutorials for mstsc as they just freeze the OS, there are more steps need to be done.

crashes when you try to launch it or what ?

[tariqm]

Can someone please give me a download link to KenOath's Neptune Activity Center???

[dans34]

Can someone please give me a download link to KenOath's Neptune Activity Center???

only KenOath has that & its not available for download

[adun]

Your post is really nice Lukas Marsik.
The BA wiki should be updated with some of your infomations

[Lukas Marsik]

Your post is really nice Lukas Marsik.
The BA wiki should be updated with some of your infomations

Thanks There is still some more info related to Activity Centers specifically, thinking about adding that later today

[tariqm]

Any other place to get KenOath's Activity Center???

[Lukas Marsik]

Any other place to get KenOath's Activity Center???

Look at what dans34 said, KenOath NEVER released them... How can there be an other place

[dans34]

wait , there was a release a part working Music Center awhile back , ill have to see if i still have it in my archives

[tariqm]

wait , there was a release a part working Music Center awhile back , ill have to see if i still have it in my archives

I know there was the Music Center in this build since it includes the Activity Center (unfortunately, it refers itself at Windows CODENAME: Millennium). The "Please Wait..." dialog in Setup was sliced up. It had the progress bar and instead of "Please Wait...", it said "Neptune Installation Progress...".

[tariqm]

Another name for Windows Neptune is Windows 2000 Neptune.

[Overdoze]

Another name for Windows Neptune is Windows 2000 Neptune.

Never heard of that, and I've spent quite some time researching Neptune. Any credible sources?

[tariqm]

It would be awesome if the Help and Support applet (the one when run through the Start Menu) was very similar to the following:



but saying "Windows 2000 Neptune" instead of "Windows 98 Millennium Beta 2". Same should apply to the Autorun applet and the WELCOME.EXE file.

Here's the way the Autorun should look like (direct copy from ME 2332's but saying "Neptune" in grey instead of "Millennium" in red):



The title bar should say "Netpune CD-ROM" in place of "Windows Millennium CD-ROM" and the Windows 98 startup sound should be kept but with the sound from the FrontPage 98 Autroun that plays when you click an option.

And the WELCOME.EXE (note the Windows 98 logo on top but replaced with the Neptune logo featuring the multicolored dots):



The title bar should say "Welcome to Neptune" in place of "Welcome to Windows 98" and should automatically execute like in Windows 98 and 2000 when a new user is logged on for the first time. And all the references that say "Windows 98" should get replaced by "Neptune". And when the user clicks on "Begin", the "Click on the Start button" message comes up from the Start button. And the Credits Easter Egg as executed from the WELDATA.EXE file should also be updated as well. Again, removing the Windows 98 references and to say Neptune in place of Windows 98. And the Credits which show the people who developed Windows 98 should also be updated to show the people who created Neptune.

Here's the proof that this is the Win98 Credits from the WELDATA.EXE file:



And the Windows 95 Credits Easter Egg should of made a comeback in Neptune but just with the people who developed Neptune along with the procedure to activate the Easter Egg.

Here's the proof for the Win95 Credits Easter Egg to be the same in Neputne but with the updated one to show who created Neptune:



What else to say about the aforementioned things???

[Lukas Marsik]

Your ideas are not a proof...

[dans34]

why would you use the older 2k style help when neptune has a much better help and support system

[Overdoze]

why would you use the older 2k style help when neptune has a much better help and support system

Indeed, courtesy of the Millennium team.

[tariqm]

why would you use the older 2k style help when neptune has a much better help and support system

Well, the interactive Help and Support Center codenamed PCHealth in Windows 2000 Neptune is just... useless. This is why the Windows 2000 Help from the Start Menu is better.

[Lukas Marsik]

Oh really? Why did it end up in XP...? Stop blurting out nonsense and think before you post..

[tariqm]

Oh really? Why did it end up in XP...? Stop blurting out nonsense and think before you post..

Sorry, but the classic Windows Help was replaced by the Help and Support center in XP. The classic one is no longer accessible.