Programming Windows: Countdown (Premium)

Microsoft spent much of 2001 focused on getting Windows XP out the door, and it had plans for a public launch that would rival, if not dwarf, that of Windows 95. And after revealing the new branding for Whistler at a February technical workshop, it scheduled its next public milestone, a broader reveal to non-technical journalists.

“Windows XP is the most important Windows release since Windows 95,” Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told reporters at a mid-February 2001 event held at Seattle’s Experience Music Project (EMP). “It’s time to give users brand-new reasons to upgrade their PCs. We’re delivering new experiences.”

“Windows ushered in low-cost computing,” he added, noting that Microsoft had invested over $1 billion in developing Windows XP. “The goal is to simplify things that have been hard and surprise people by letting them do things they’ve never done before with a PC.”

Windows head Jim Allchin contributed to the hype by claiming that XP wasn’t a system upgrade, but was instead “a lifestyle upgrade” with “standing ovation” new features that would make a real difference to customers. “Windows XP is the system that I've always wanted to build,” he said. “It's the system that my mom deserves, and trust me, she talks to me a lot about the things she really wants in Windows.”

Based on the positive reports from the EMP event, the journalists were impressed with XP’s music and photo management features, remote assistance tools, multi-user capabilities, and robust, NT-based underpinnings. But given the recent industry doldrums, some wondered what the demand was: would customers rush out to upgrade their existing PCs or buy a new computer?

Microsoft intended to find out. Gates had promised that his firm would ship Windows XP Beta 2 that quarter, by the end of March. And Microsoft did deliver a pre-release Windows XP build with the new Luna user interface to testers that same day. As important, it also started communicating to developers what they could expect from Windows XP.

The biggest topic, of course, was the new Windows XP visual style. In previous Windows versions, users could configure themes, which included on-screen elements like colors, fonts and font sizes, and wallpapers, plus system sounds. But the new Windows XP visual style changed the way that controls, window borders, and menus were displayed. And here, Microsoft had some bad news for developers: though the addition of the new Windows XP visual style suggested that the system could be easily skinned, the firm said that such a thing was “not appropriate at the operating system level.” As such, XP’s new theme file formats would not be made public and Microsoft would retain control of themes, “to allow a consistent user interface and ensure design continuity. A theme developer's kit will not be available with Windows XP.”

The new Windows XP user interface was functionally similar to the web---for e...