Microsoft Promises More Vista Extras ‘Over The Next Couple Of Years’

Microsoft has been blasted for letting down those who bought the Vista Ultimate edition and not coming through with the promised features that were supposed to ‘knock our socks off.’ In fact Microsoft seems to have completely dropped the ball when it has come to providing anything that would make one want to pay the high premium cost associated with Vista Ultimate. Microsoft has now responded to the outcry stating on its site:

Update on the Windows Ultimate Extras

When we launched Windows Vista in January 2007, we identified Windows Ultimate Extras as a unique series of add-ons that would be available to Windows Vista Ultimate customers. To date, we have released four sets of Extras - Windows Hold’Em, 16 Language Packs for the Windows multi-language user interface, Secure Online Key Backup, and Windows BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool. We want to let our Windows Vista Ultimate customers know that we are actively working to deliver the remaining Extras that we identified in January. Our goal is to provide the highest-quality, most secure and reliable offerings, and as a result we are continuing our work on these offerings. We apologize for taking so long to provide a status update to customers.

We intend to ship Windows DreamScene and the remaining 20 Language Packs by the end of the summer. We will not ship the last two Extras showcased in January (Windows DreamScene and the remaining 20 Language Packs) until they meet the high quality bar required by our enthusiastic customers — and we believe that we can achieve that bar by the end of this summer.

We also intend to deliver additional Extras in the future. In addition to Windows DreamScene and the remaining Language Packs, we plan to ship a collection of additional Windows Ultimate Extras over the next couple years that we are confident will delight our passionate Windows Vista Ultimate customers. We cannot identify dates or provide details at this time — but once we ship Windows DreamScene and the remaining Language Packs, we will provide more information about the next Extras.

Barry Goffe

Director, Windows Vista Ultimate

Microsoft Corporation

This one statement says it all: ‘Over the next couple years that we are confident will delight our passionate Windows Vista Ultimate customers.’

Does anyone recall, when they bought Vista Ultimate, anything stating it would takes ‘years’ for this to happen?

Windows Vista Ultimate site here.

Comments welcome.

[tags]microsoft, windows, vista, ultimate[/tags]