Microsoft Neptune vs Codename Whistler? Which one is better?

[Stef Mihai]

Hello everyone. I have recently tried Microsoft Neptune (under construction) build 5111, in a VM, and I was surprised when I saw it is actually better than Microsoft Codename Whistler (build 2463, VM). My first thought was that it would be incredibly slow and buggy, and very out of date. If Whistler build 2463 supported Firefox 3.x and Opera 11.64, I thought this one would also be like that, and it would crash if I installed newer applications. But, no, it was more stable than Whistler, faster to boot, and it supported Firefox 12 , Opera 12.02, VBox Guest Additions Office 2000 5,xx, Adobe 6.x and K-Meleon Goanna 74 G2.2, even though it is a 1999 OS?! First I wondered if it was modified, but no, it even had a timebomb which I manually removed, no serial key needed like in the BetaWiki article, and Windows 2000 NTC winver.exe branding. Probably because it features the 5.0 kernel number, but I still can't explain why K-Meleon installs. I thought this app needed Windows 2000 SP4+ in order to operate, and still I am using it at the moment. I am also curious why Whistler bluescreens when a more "modern" app is installed, and why the theming service on Whistler renders every app unusable. Because now I started wondering why Microsoft threw Neptune away and replaced it with that pile of trash called "Codename Whistler"? I have to confess, the final Windows XP is (still) one of the best operating systems out there, but it's betas weren't so convincing afterall...

[Fanta Shokata]

Using beta OS on a daily basis isn't recommended.

[Stef Mihai]

Using beta OS on a daily basis isn't recommended.

I know. That's why I installed them in a VM. I am actually using Windows 8 as my main machine and I also installed Windows Code-Name Longhorn build 4074 on an old computer at my countryside house. But I use VirtualBox for these old crap.

[dixieLH]

why Microsoft threw Neptune away and replaced it with that pile of trash called "Codename Whistler"?

this just shows how pointless this discussion is ....

[mrpijey]

What's better, a used 50cm string no one has ever seen or a new 50 cm string you can buy in store?

Pointless discussion, topic closed.