Ultimate Extras, the “extra” gadgets designed to be available for and to enhance exclusively the high-end edition of Windows Vista, have now been confirmed officially dead, with Windows 7 not only driving the last nail in their coffin, but also burying the whole lot. Microsoft, which saved “the best-of-the-best” (yes, it does sound like a mockery) for their fellow tech enthusiasts, has revealed that there will be no Ultimate Extras for Windows 7. Users of Windows Vista Ultimate that have experienced first hand the disappointment generated by the Ultimate Extras Microsoft failed to provide, and even by those that the company did manage to serve, will not be at risk of repeating the experience with Windows 7.

“Our new approach to planning and building Windows doesn't have the capacity to continue to deliver features outside the regular release cycle. While our core development team is focused on building the next release, our sustained engineering team is focused on updates to existing features. As a result, we don't plan to create Ultimate Extras,” Microsoft revealed according to WinSuperSite.

No Ultimate Extras for Windows 7 is bound only to reflect good on the next iteration of the Windows client, as the Redmond company has been put under a barrage of fire by users for the failure of the initiative following the launch of Vista. In the end, Ultimate Extras was interpreted as just another case of Microsoft overpromising for Vista and underdelivering. Not willing to repeat the same mistake with Windows 7, Microsoft has cut the extra features altogether.

But at the same time, end users that will upgrade from Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate will lose access to the existing Ultimate Extras. The upgrade process removes all Extras from Vista Ultimate, with Windows 7 not being able to access the add-ons via Windows Update. At this point in time Microsoft has yet to confirm that this will be the default upgrade process for Windows 7, and that the Ultimate Extras will be wiped out entirely.

Ultimate Extras' last spasm before coma was in September of 2008 when the software giant released the Tinker game, Ultimate Extras Sounds from Microsoft Tinker and Windows DreamScene (TM) Content Pack #4. This, while the end users are stuck “enjoying” the same Hold'em Poker game, BitLocker and EFS Enhancements, Language Packs, Windows DreamScene and Sound Schemes. Based on my own experience with the Ultimate Extras, but especially with DreamScene, I say good riddens!