It's Not Ultimate Enough
section: windows, for your questions: KezNews forum, 9.7.2007
Windows Vista Ultimate users looking for "extras" shouldn't wait on Microsoft.
Once again, Microsoft's marketing machine is grinding its gears, if today's blog post about "Ultimate Extras" is any indication. In a nutshell: there ain't nothing coming.
Windows Vista Ultimate Extras were supposed to be special goodies for those people willing to pay extra for Microsoft's biggest, baddest operating system. To date, the goody bag is looking more like Charlie Brown's Halloween sack: "I got a rock."
According to the post:
"We intend to ship Windows DreamScene and the remaining 20 [Windows Vista language packs] by the end of the summer...We also intend to deliver additional Extras in the future...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."
Microsoft's idea of extras until now consisted of language packs, a card game, encryption enhancement and an online key backup utility. Shouldn't these so-called "extras" be part of the base operating system? Microsoft's idea of more extras: More language packs and a final version of DreamScene, which is, essentially, video desktop wallpaper.
What kind of bleeding edge, early adopter who has plunked down between $260 and $400 for Ultimate, is going to swoon over language packs?
There's a word for someone willing to pay big money for the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink version of Vista: enthusiast. Early adopting enthusiasts are potentially powerful, word of mouth marketers. Their influence—with friends and family or on blogs, newsgroups and forums—will hugely affect Vista's adoption. A satisfied enthusiast will tell lots of people that Vista is great. The user who is dissatisfied with the product will be pure poison.
Microsoft, you don't want to tick off your enthusiasts. Promising them a special Ultimate goody bag of extras but not delivering it is a good way to start trouble. The first rule of good marketing is to promise one thing and deliver a whole lot more. The situation the Ultimate Extras seems to be in is that a lot has been promised and a whole lot less has been delivered. Language packs and more resource hogging video desktop scenes aren't extra anything.
Microsoft's delivery of extras is glacially slow. Google might get three or four products out of perennial beta before Microsoft delivers something new to Ultimate users.
I had expected Microsoft to give Ultimate buyers the equivalent of Windows 95, 98 and XP Plus SuperPacks for free. Such extras might have wooed more people to buy Ultimate.
But I've griped enough. C`mon, Ultimate users, it's your turn to pipe in. Has Microsoft delivered enough Ultimate Extras? Or do you want more? And if you want more, what do you expect?
source: microsoft-watch.com
Send link 2 friend | Permalink
MORE RELATED ARTICLES:
New Home for Windows Ultimate Exclusives from Microsoft || Remaining Vista Ultimate Language Packs released || High-Fashion Ultimate Windows Vista Computers || Leaked Screenshots of Windows 7 M1 Ultimate Edition is here! || Microsoft Launches New Windows Vista Ultimate Extras
Comments(12)
whatever happened to groupshot? it seemed to be working fine at ces but they still
haven't even delievered that whilst they are giving us a beta of dreamscene. c'mon ms
get your act together!
i still don't understand how language packs can be considered an "ulitimate" extra.
a silly video background available from many 3rd party developers? come on,
that's nothing new.
how about powertoys for windows vista?? that would a
welcome ultimate extra !!
groupshot has been around for quite awhile. you don't even need vista to run it so it's
not exactly "ultimate extras" that people have been looking for:
http://research.microsoft.com/projects/groupshot/
m$ already delivered the "extras" to us
it's
extra cost [$'s] :)
i've been using vista ultimate for quite a while now. if they think that a couple games,
moving backgrounds and alternate languages are going to please us they've got another
think coming.
everything microsoft offers as an "extra" is avaiable for free
from third parties and most times, they've done it better. it's time microsoft gets its
act together.
ok first of all i need to say this:
english language is delivered as default
in my vista ultimate. what makes microsoft think i need a damn russian or spanish language
pack?... no offense to none english speakers so please don't take it personal...
now as i mentioned i will just quote my previous post:
..."we apologize
for taking so long to provide a status update to customers..."
you guys are
full of shit!! customers don't buy apologizes, i didn't pay for any apologizes in the
store, my receipt shows no item by that name!
why didn't they mention that
windows vista ultimate is the same shit except that it is more expensive... cos' they
advertised ultimate extras a an important part under windows vista ultimate...
they gave you a beta dreamscene (useless)crappy app, hold'em (game??? wow!!... i mean
errmmm... that's useless as well!)
bitlocker and secure online key backup...
ermmm well, 2 features $400??? of course not worth it at all!!
alright
microsoft i finally get it!!!, let's see:
apologizes + ultimate extras =
useless applications
we need useful applications, somehting productive!!! not a
fu##ing buggy and useless dream scene...
give customers useful tools that will
correspond with the ultimate extras features you guys advertised sooooo much!
the lack of innovation and the incomplete release of vista is just another sad part of the
redmond's history...
nero burning by its own has more features than windows
vista ultimate...
the "pronounced" language pack as an ultimate extra is just
nuts. heheheh...
it would be nice seeing microsoft selling out vista in
argentina with an hebrews language pack instead of spanish...
microsoft
don't want to make our life easier but expensive!
micro$ucks 2007
all
lies reserved
long life to vista ultimate lite 32bit... 700 mb of the relative
usable code gotten from a 4.7gb of crap that microsoft shipped out on january the 30th.
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3723107
http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1230643/5091441/
just wondering if any figures that show the
sales of the different tears of vista
have been put out....i wonder if theres a big enough ultimate base we can go take old m$
out.....lol
vista is not being accepted by people out there. 99.9% of my customers prefer windows xp
over vista, not mentioning that hardware requirements to run vista is just stupid and
insane.
also companies like dell, hp and compaq are delivering windows vista
home premium in their pcs with no xp drivers support, which is basically a way to force
customers to run windows vista. this is simply embarrassing and not very ethic...
i have the feeling micro$ucks' influence is behind all this.
how do you
expect vista to be a "relative decent os" when more than 80% of computers at home do not
meet the minimum requirements to upgrade to this new os?? or even worst, how can they say
this is a huge improvement over xp when you need 1gb ram and at least a 1.6ghz processor
to run only their hated operative system...
please guys, note that even when
micrsoft said that an 800mhz processor and 512mb ram could run vista, they are not telling
you what the user's experience will be in a system with those specs... in my personal
experience having vista in a pc with such specs is like standing on line at the gas
station after a hurricane.
thanks god i was able to afford a macbook!!...
by the way guys, i found an important documents describing windows vista ultimate extras:
- full support for bsod (blue screen of death)
- improved memory usage:
1.5gb ram while in idle.
- improved compatibility: al previous viruses and spywares
are also compatible with vista ultimate.
- new elegant aero interface: the useless
resouces hogg glass.
- dream scene: the stupid and distracting background fully
compatible with bsods.
- hold’em game: experience the best way to kill some time and
being inproductive at the same time.
- more than 20 language packs: install new
languages packs! we don’t care if you don’t speak other than your unic mother language!!
- and much more to come such as:
- ermm…
- well…
- oppsss…
-ahhhh…
-hmmmm…
- yep…
-wohoo…
-wow…
-psssss…
enjoy the
best, enjoy winblows viscrap!
micro$ucks 2007
all lies reserved
vista needs some work. it's fun to look at, but when i have something to do, i boot xp
pro. i feel ripped-off by the second richest man in the world! it's not a good feeling!
yeah people!! your right about that!
whats with the vista ultimate with nothing
ultimate that its cost?
ms dont give us useless eye candy programs you called
extras instead give us programs that very usefull to help us to be productive, i know you
can do it like what you did to xp, and if your going to do it?
do it fast!!
theres nothing wrong in backward compatiblity so have a support on that! at the same
time introducing the users to the future like what xp offers
coz right now we
dont really need more flashy eye candy or a moving background like of dreamscene, our need
is to be productive while multitasking is involve
remember we use pc's to
lighten our daily task not to add more problems
still no compatible nero for
vista ultimate
even nero 7.9.6.0 wont install
ms we need backward
compatibility ok?
microsoft just don't get it.
as a systems builder most of my clients are not
techno freaks nor are they died in the wool gamers. most of them operate on shoestring
budgets and don't want to pay big bucks for software with bells and whistles and a lot of
hot air that delivers nothing.
microsoft would find there would be a quicker
uptake of their software if they were to halve their prices, cut out the useless so called
extras and give them (the customer)software that actually functions in ways meaningful to
the average computer user's needs.
if microsoft were to go down this track
they would probably find that the average joe blow would be less inclined to beg, steal or
borrow the microsoft operating systems and they would not be targeted as much by malicious
software creators or hackers.
as from my experience with vista ultimate it
promises so much but delivers nothing that the previous operating system xp couldn't
deliver coupled with third party software.
come on microsoft if you want people
to adopt your vista operating system make it affordable for the majority of us geeks out
here in the real world and make it useful to all levels of user, we don't all live in the
virtual world of microsoft.
how often do you come back to this article to read others' comments?
No new comments are allowed for this article.
For your questions use our KezNews Forum
Groupshot?
By kj on 09.07.2007 - 13:07