Over at NeoWin.net there are some leaked screenshots from Longhorn PDC Build 4051. It doesn't look any cleaner than before, but it does look different. Of course, that said, the release is more than two years away (at least), so I'm sure that these have as much relevance as the early leaked shots from WindowsXP. This was linked from a story on the register regarding whether this leak is just another way to get hyped about Longhorn early. Anyone remember the two years or so leading up to Windows 95?
First thoughts: much wasted screen space, more jellybeans, unusable. :-)
My first thoughts were that other than the one shot of explorer showing off pictures it really looks like a skin or theme. Some shots it looks like a "black/chrome" skin to go with silver and olive from the standard XP, a couple of other shots it looks like a good theme for themexp or something.
I'm sure there'll be a warez version out soon enough for people to check out and see.
Yah. I also wouldn't be surprised if MS releases/announces a new IE (IE6.6/7) before Longhorn comes out. IE6 came out ages ago. I noticed that some new security/privacy dialogues in Internet Explorer on Windows 2003, so maybe that will be more generally available soon as well.