Time for another look back at pre-release version of Windows using Hyper-V and today it is the Windows Whistler project. Windows Whistler was the code name for what became Windows XP and replaced Windows 2000.

In the video you can see how the UI evolved over the development, becoming the Windows XP many of us remember well. You will also see one build that had a different looking UI with a story behind it.

Development started in 1999 with the first preview builds coming out early 2000. In the video I examine three builds from the development phase of Windows Whistler:

  • Build 2211 from March 2000, which still very much looked like Windows 2000 and still included things like Active Desktop.
  • Build 2276 from September 2000, which looks like a hybrid of Windows 2000 and XP with a changed started menu.
  • Build 2446 from February 2001 which looks very much like the finished UI and no longer contained Active Desktop
  • Build 2419 from January 2001 which as has a very different theme to the finished product which I actually quiet liked.

From the tour in the videos, you can see how the UI of Windows XP progressed from Windows 2000 to the finished product. If you like my tours of old version of Windows checkout my look at two cancelled version of Windows: Windows Longhorn and Windows Neptune.

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