Inside Windows Phone 9: The Unreleased Microsoft OS (Build 9928)

 

So today, we are talking about one of the strangest pieces of beta software in mobile history: Windows 10 Mobile Technical Preview build 9928, frequently called "Windows Phone 9" by the community.

According to BetaWiki, this build was originally compiled on 2015-01-21. 

Let's dive into! 

While this build used to be available as a simple software update, the Insider Program is now dead. 
The only way to get this is to manually sideload the update CAB packages using a computer.

After updating, the first thing you will notice is the new boot screen, that replaces the blue Windows Logo of 8.1, with a white/black color scheme "Windows Phone" diciture, similar to how it was on 8.0.

This build features the option to set an image as background, instead of "Tile Picture", giving a glimpse of what the actual Windows 10 Mobile will become.

Fun Fact: the "People" tile can be made as large as 4 x 4 tiles, a feature that we will never see in any stable Windows Phone release. 

"People" tile in 4 x 4

The Settings icon looks off, as much as the actual app

 

"Settings" Tile with a big icon

Settings

"System" 

"Display"

"Windows Phone 9" is a beta that captures the moment Microsoft was trying to ditch Windows 8.1 with something new. This is given by the evident UI Identity Crisis: mixes of modern Windows 10 layouts with 8.1 styles, and system elements.

 

 

Windows 98 Dual Monitor Setup: Restoring a Retro 1998 Celeron PC (part 1)

After the heartbreak of losing my Studioworks 775C, the basement started to feel a bit too quiet. I have a lot of standard grey frame LCD monitors from the early 2000s, so I decided to use a couple of them to replace the CRT with some dignity.

While digging through some boxes, I came across an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 card. While 256MB of VRAM may seem overkill for Windows 98, I decided to take the "overkill" philosophy for the whole project. It was the moment I found a white IDE high-speed LG DVD-RW 48x Writer & Player in a random box that I started thinking of a whole restoration.

Original Specs Before the Project

• Intel Celeron 300MHz (slot type)
• 64MB RAM
• 30GB HDD
• Daytona Trio 3D GPU
• Sound Blaster
• Broken Samsung CD Player

The Upgrade Process

I started by removing the old Daytona Trio 3D to fit the GeForce FX 5500, then installed new RAM sticks for a total of 128MB. I swapped the broken Samsung CD Player with the LG DVD-RW (despite being from 2004, it has a white faceplate), added a standard CD Player to protect the LG laser when writing is not necessary, and fixed the floppy drive connections.

I plugged everything in following this configuration:

• IDE 1: HDD [MASTER] + CD PLAYER [SLAVE]
• IDE 2: LG DVD [MASTER]

For some reason, putting the LG in Master caused Windows 98 to constantly report the drive as not ready. Plugging a SLAVE drive into IDE 2 fixed the issue. One wrong jumper and the whole system freaks out.

Then the CD Player started randomly not being recognised by the system, not even in BIOS. I temporarily swapped in a standard LG black faceplate CD Player until I find a white one. Current working configuration:

• IDE 1: HDD [MASTER]
• IDE 2: LG BLACK CD PLAYER [SLAVE]

Installing Windows 98

I burned a bootable Windows 98 CD to install the OS. My copy is a RETAIL version and only OEM copies are bootable without DOS already on the hard drive. The install went smooth as butter, taking about 45 minutes.

I then burned a CD with all the necessary drivers and installed them on the machine.

Success! Windows 98 Celeron on Dual monitor

In the next episode I will be trying to fix the 3 floppy drives that I have not been able to fix since 2020. They somehow throw errors despite having power and an IDE cable with the right orientation. I am pretty sure that will be a great adventure!