Remember Vista Ultimate Extras? Well they are back according to Paul Thurrott, but this time they will be released for free in the form of two games, Microsoft Tinker and Hold 'Em.Microsoft's failed Vista Ultimate Extras were a big promise from the company of "cutting-edge programs, innovative services and unique publications." At least they were in Vista RTM, by the time Vista SP1 was rolled out nearly all references to Vista Ultimate Extras were removed (shown below). Blogger Long Zheng called them the "ultimate con" at the time and in hindsight he was right. Microsoft made several promises of more extras which resulted in the company launching UltimatePC.com which now redirects to the Vista home-page.
Hold'Em, a Poker card game, was an original Ultimate Extra released at the same time as Vista general availability. Tinker, a 60-level robot puzzle video game, was originally released in September, 2008. Microsoft confirmed in February this year that Windows 7 Ultimate would not feature the Extras applications, claiming "our new approach to planning and building Windows doesn't have the capacity to continue to deliver features outside the regular release cycle...as a result we don't plan to create Ultimate Extras."
It appears Ultimate Extras, in a small form, live to fight another day and will be available to all. Microsoft has not confirmed when Tinker and Hold'Em will be released, simply stating they are "coming soon".
Ultimate Extras Vista RTM:
Ultimate Extras Vista SP1:
Thanks to Ci7 for the news tip
you and me both that's one of the few games from MS that I actually enjoyed and I was kinds bummed it didn't get integrated into W7 Ultimate
Well if they release them as free then you won't have to have a copy of Vista Ultimate, they'll work on any version (or 7).
Have you read the EULA for this product described above? Perhaps you should read the artilcle again and again until you figure it out.
it's been a year since i last showed off my video wallpaper....
i was dismayed when they didn't retain it in windows 7....
it's been a year since i last showed off my video wallpaper....
i was dismayed when they didn't retain it in windows 7....
Deskscapes works perfectly in 7
If you don't have solid MPEG-4 support in the GPU (along with Aero, of course), DreamScenes (and DeskScapes) performance will blow. For widescreen displays, think H.263 or better. And 512 MB of (at least) DDR2 is a necessity; despite my HD3450 being (in most ways) a better GPU than the X1650PRO AGP in my previous setup (which Mom has now), the comparative lack of onboard RAM (256 MB of DDR2 vs. 512 MB for the AGP part) is a major issue for video (as opposed to graphically) intensive tasks. AMD recognized that going forward, as minimum RAM loadouts for reference HD4xxx designs now begin at 512 MB; with HD5xxx, the loadout is a surprising 1 GB.
Release some programs to some people with the Ultimate system.
Microsoft finds Windows XP very old, indeed it is Microsoft longest OS in the market. So that's why there's huge probability that XP is not going to have these.
'Additionally, we’re pleased to report that Tinker will be available for all version of Windows and Hold’em for all versions of Vista and beyond. Other than that, we’re not really talking about specifics of the games, just letting you know they’re on their way. Stay tuned for more information'
http://forums.gamesforwindows.com/t/8565.aspx
xD
yep i got suckered into ultimate and none of the extras were used by me, except for dreamscene to show off to friends for 5 minutes
If you got Ultimate because of the extras and not because it had all the features of both Business and Home Premium plus more... well then you just didn't do your research.
actually i did
MS promised things like Game Mode for performance etc etc
as a gamer it seemed like a good idea
There are people who got Ultimate just because it was "Ultimate". The name was (and still is) great marketing.
Hahaha, cuz those extras were actually worth the extra money? Should have just gotten Home Premium. Vista, I am disappoint.
If I was one of the people scammed by Vista Ultimate, I wouldn't consider it goodwill that they're giving the extras away to everyone for free.
If people bought Ultimate solely for Ultimate Extras they deserved to be scammed.
Too little too late comes to mind. And any good will MS might have gotten if they had released this a couple of years ago is gone now.
"Those suckers that bought Vista Ultimate, myself included, are screwed," said yet another commenter. "There isn't a chance in hell that I am paying $219 for what should really be Vista SP2. We were promised 'extras' which we never got, now we are being excluded from the pre-order special. Anyway even at $49, it is still too much to pay."
The extras that commenter mentioned refer to "Ultimate Extras," one of the main features Microsoft cited in the months leading up to the 2007 release of Vista Ultimate to distinguish the operating system from its lower-priced siblings. According to Microsoft's marketing, Extras were to be "cutting-edge programs, innovative services and unique publications" that would be regularly offered only to users of Vista's highest-priced edition.
But users soon began belittling the paltry number of add-ons Microsoft released and the company's leisurely pace at providing them. Just five months after Vista was launched, critics started to complain.
Earlier this year, Microsoft dumped the feature, saying that it would instead focus on existing features in Windows 7 rather than again promise extras.
The furor over Vista Ultimate has even reached analysts' ranks. In May, Michael Cherry of Directions on Microsoft urged Microsoft to give Vista Ultimate owners a free upgrade to Windows 7. "It would buy them a lot of good will, and I don't think it would cost them much," Cherry said at the time.
Some of the commenters in the latest Computerworld stories about Windows 7 echoed Cherry.
"I am running Vista Ultimate and feel ripped off by Microsoft because ... [we] never received the extras we paid good money to get," said "Hellfire" in a long comment. "The very least that they should do is offer a heavily-discounted upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate to those that have lost money by purchasing Vista Ultimate."
... "
Hey Microsoft why not offer Windows 7 Ultimate FREE of cost to Vista Ultimate Owners?? It would make better sense doing that.
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