The Ultimate Extras offerings tailorfitted on the high-end editions of the Windows Vista operating system have only managed to deliver one disappointment after another. Just one week short of the first eight months of availability for Vista, Microsoft managed to deliver the first final version of Windows DreamScene. And in case DreamScene fails to ring any bells after all this time, the Ultimate Extra is a technology designed to permit running animated videos as wallpapers in Vista Ultimate, instead of the classic static image backgrounds. Essentially, the Ultimate Extras Team gives a new meaning to the saying "better late than never." And right now Microsoft is at the stage of better late, and in small portions, with the inherent issues, than never.

What inherent issues? Well, it seems that Vista ultimate users will have a choice of either Windows Vista SP1 or Windows DreamScene. They simply cannot have both. Microsoft promised DreamScene will be delivered with the first refresh for Vista only after the availability of SP1. Currently, the service pack for Vista is planned for the first quarter of 2008, sometime after February. So a portion of the 12,000 testers that are currently running Vista SP1 Beta will not be able to access Windows DreamScene.

"Ultimate customers will notice that in anticipation of SP1, the screen that welcomes you to Windows Ultimate Extras has been simplified and the explanation more focused on the breadth of features that future Extras will bring. Windows Ultimate Extras was conceived to extend Windows features and to make using your computer more fun, so this text better reflects our direction. DreamScene is not available in the Windows Vista SP1 Beta; however, it will be made available with a later release of SP1", revealed Nick White, Microsoft Product Manager.

"As the broad beta for Windows Vista SP1 nears, people have noticed that the screen which welcomes customers to Windows Ultimate Extras has changed. Our intent in making this change was simply to broaden the definition in anticipation of a broader range of Ultimate Extras being available in the future-that do not necessarily map to the original, narrow definition. We plan to ship a collection of additional Windows Ultimate Extras that we are confident will delight our passionate Windows Vista Ultimate customers. We will shed more light on these plans once the Language Packs are finally dislodged from our delivery pipeline", stated Barry Goffe, Director, Windows Vista Ultimate.