Vista Add-Ons Are Still Late

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

05 Jul 2007 08:54 AM

This past Monday, Microsoft issued an apology to its users regarding the new Vista operating system. The apology was for the tardy release of two promised add-ons. According to Microsoft, the missing add-ons are expected to be released by the end of summer.

Back in January, when Vista was originally released, Microsoft promised a series of "Ultimate Extras" add-ons that would be included in the Windows Vista Ultimate Edition operating system.

Originally, about 24 add-ons were promised. So far, four of those add-ons have actually been released. They are: Windows Hold'Em, a poker game; the secure online key backup; the BitLocker drive preparation tool, which configures hard drives to use Vista's BitLocker drive encryption feature; and 16 language packs.

In addition to the 20 remaining add ons, there is another feature called DreamScene that will be coming later. With DreamScene, Vista users can select videos to use as desktop backgrounds.

Barry Goffe, the director of Windows Vista Ultimate stated the following in his blog: "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." He also apologized for taking so long to provide a status update and promised to ship at least the language packs and DreamScene by the end of the summer. He also warned, however, that they would not be released "until they meet the high quality bar required by our enthusiastic customers."

Goffe said the remaining add-ons will be released over the course of the next two years, but there were no additional timelines or details.

Do you run Vista Ultimate Edition? If so, I would love to hear from you. What is your opinion of the operating system? Do you care about the add-ons and when they will be released?

Mary Ann Romans also writes for the Frugal Living Blog here at Families.com, where she shares money saving tips for today's families.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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