Vista Ultimate Extras: Ultimately Disappointing

Most of the time, blogs are about things that recently happened in the news. This blog is about something that hasn't happened. Microsoft promised to deliver more Vista Ultimate Extras last year but hasn't done or said anything about them in nearly three months, and may not deliver anything soon.Blogger Long Zheng has a great post in the form of a faux e-mail to Microsoft asking them what has happened to Windows Vista Ultimate Extras. If you're using a lesser version of Vista, or perhaps XP, you may not know about the great value touted by Ultimate Extras. What do you get for the extra cost of Vista Ultimate ($399 retail, or a $159 upgrade from Home Premium)? Not that much.

The only features truly unique to Vista Ultimate are BitLocker Drive Encryption and Multilingual User Interface, but Microsoft allocated features in Vista Business and Vista Home Premium so that they each lack a few useful features that Vista Ultimate includes. For example, Vista Home doesn't include Complete PC Backup; Vista Business omits Windows DVD Maker and several premium games.

There was one other open-ended benefit that may have upsold users into Vista Ultimate, and that was Vista Ultimate Extras. Microsoft offers a Web site to announce the new features; it's like you're part of an exclusive club. One of Microsoft's upgrade pitches for Ultimate says, "It's also a great choice for anyone who just wants the best and is attracted to the possibility of an ever-growing list of new features through Windows Ultimate Extras."

In reality, the list hasn't grown at all since Vista was released a year ago. It wasn't until late October 2007 that Microsoft finally cleared its backlog and delivered on its original promises. Yet Microsoft says that more is on the way. Barry Goffe, director for Windows Vista Ultimate, blogged this in September: We "plan to ship a collection of additional Windows Ultimate Extras that we are confident will delight our passionate Windows Vista Ultimate customers."

Based on what has happened this past year, my advice would be that if you really need the things that are currently in Vista Ultimate, by all means buy it. Just don't buy based on the promise that more Ultimate Extras will appear soon. And if you're a "passionate Windows Vista Ultimate customer," take a cold shower.