Windows Embedded 2000 for Game Consoles was a version of Windows 2000 that didn't have a normal Windows Explorer window. It was made for the Xbox Classic, which was released the same year as Windows Embedded 2000 for Game Consoles.
Development[]
Start of Development (1997)[]
In early 1997, the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 were dominating the market. Meanwhile, the main way to play console games with Microsoft's software was with illegal emulators, or some legal ones in 1998 such as Connectix and Bleem. Theories started going around that Microsoft would make a game console codenamed "Scorpion" (The name for Xbox Scorpio was inspired by this) The OS was also to be codenamed Scorpion, and that it would be a 32-bit console. Build 997 was the first build complied on March 25, 1997 and was heavily based off of Windows NT Server Beta 3 Build 5.0.997 (otherwise known as Windows 2000 Beta 3 Build 5.0.997), Build 1014 was complied on April 3 and was modified to where you can only run it on the "Scorpion Test Kit". Here is a complete list of builds complied in 1997.
Date
Build No.
Picture
Info
March 25, 1997
5.0.997
This build largely resembled the MS-DOS prompt of Windows NT, due to the fact that explorer.exe was not included.
April 3, 1997
5.0.1014
Microsoft put a very small, low-end version of explorer.exe in this build to make it easier to test.
April 4, 1997
5.0.1019
This build looks identical to the previous build, and only contains 1 major feature...a achievement system (which would lead to a customized game center app with a Xbox-style achievement area)
April 5, 1997
5.0.1023
Looks identical, but the boot logo was changed to a Windows 9x like screen, and it also reads sometimes that it is Memphis (Windows 98 beta). It was mostly a bug fix build, and also the hardest build to find.
April 6, 1997
5.0.1028
For the last 4 builds nothing very major came, but build 1028 contained a extremely major addition that caused the name "Xbox" to appear, the file system that the original Xbox CD's used, a bug also made the "Scorpion" name display it's self as "Xbox" but the developer team really liked the name, but moved on for a few days.
April 13, 1997
5.0.1034
On April 8, 1997 Microsoft officially filed a copyright for the "Xbox" name, but still no word from the main developers left the testers worried that the project had been scrapped. The home screen looked exactly like the Xbox dashboard that came at release, though you could press the space bar and could get to the normal desktop, which looked the exact same. much of the features, including "MUSIC" and "XBOX LIVE" didn't work, and most of "SETTINGS" features didn't work either, and would send you to the blue screen of death.
April 19, 1997
5.0.1039
Much earlier than expected, Windows Embedded 2000 for Game Consoles, or known at that time as "Codename Xbox" was already into Beta...the Xbox Live and Music menus would no longer crash the system, but would instead lead to something saying "More to be done".
April 24, 1997
5.0.1043
This build added the Music menu to the Xbox dashboard as well as a watermark on the Windows desktop similar to Windows 2000 beta builds. This build also removed Internet Explorer shortcuts however it is still installed
