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New Windows Ultimate Extras Now Available

Today we are excited to announce that 3 new Windows Ultimate Extras are now available for installation via Windows Update! This is the 6th wave of Ultimate Extras released by Microsoft exclusively for Windows Vista Ultimate users. Users will find the following Ultimate Extras waiting to be installed:

Microsoft ® Tinker (TM): Microsoft Tinker is a casual game that provides players with short puzzle game play sessions set in a warm, calming environment.

Ultimate Extras Sounds from Microsoft Tinker: Based on the positive feedback we received from the release of additional Windows Sound Schemes in April, we've integrated the unique audio sounds from Microsoft Tinker into a new sound scheme.

Windows ® DreamScene (TM) Content Pack #4 Windows DreamScene Content Pack #4 which adds three additional nature-setting Windows DreamScenes. 

Microsoft Tinker was developed for Microsoft as an Ultimate Extra by our Partner Fuel Industries.

Windows Ultimate Extras are only for Windows Vista Ultimate users and designed to add to their Windows experience. We will be shipping new Windows Ultimate Extras in the near future and will post additional information here on the blog when that occurs. 

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Comments

  1. jaxim
    Posted on: September 23, 2008 at 7:52PM  

    Here's a few features that I think would be more worthy extras that people would start talking about and make ultimate REALLY worth the extra money:

    1) multi clipboard - enhance the current clipboard to allow users to view a history of clippings to the clipboard. Allow user to store a number of clipping they always use: i.e. email addresses, mailing address, common programming code (for programmers)

    2) windows explorer with tabs (enough said)

    3) Enhance shadow copy to allow ultimate user to manually save versions of files as they work. A better and more intuitive way for versioning control rather than hoping the correct version of a file gets saved during periodic backups.

    4) change the backup system so users can specifically say what files they wish to be backed up and which files not to back up. And what folders to back up and which folders to exclude. Grant more control to power users but do it in a very intuitive way so my Mom can use it.

    Anyway, those are suggestions for extras, (if not feature requests for Windows 7) thanks :-)

  2. Jakevk
    Posted on: September 23, 2008 at 10:42PM  

    Windows Vista came as the operating system on a new dell desktop I purchased last year. Everytime I turn the system on, my computer is rendered almost useless as Vista automatically "updates" itself. These "updates" are downloaded almost everytime I turn the computer on, so frequently that I can't even check my email without it turning into a lengthy ordeal. I will not even get into the other problems I have had with the system, nor the hours I wasted on the phone with Dell tech support trying to resolve one issue or another.

    This being my experience, I find your new "see for yourself campaign" downright offensive. Customers say that Vista is terrible because it is! From what I understand, Microsoft releases a new operating system when Wallstreet dictates that it should, not when a truly remarkable system has been created. This is a shame. How long do you think you can fool customers? How many good customers will you alienate with this policy? Why don't you consider fixing the product you already have ON the market, BEFORE trying to tell more people they should buy it?

    Anyone I know in the market for a new computer is buying a Mac, and I openly encourage them to do so. If need be, I simply turn on my Vista system and let them watch the "updating".

  3. MDOC
    Posted on: September 23, 2008 at 10:45PM  

    OK, you've made an announcement that "New Windows Ultimate Extras [are] Now Available", but add at the bottom of the announcement that they'll be shipping them (or made available) in the near future.  ;)

    Just be careful.  That's just froth with no substance.

  4. Brandon LeBlanc
    Microsoft
    Posted on: September 23, 2008 at 11:10PM  

    MDOC, the last sentence is referring to new releases that take place after today's Ultimate Extra releases. New Extras shipped today, and new Extras will ship in the future. :-)

    - Brandon

  5. Brandon LeBlanc
    Microsoft
    Posted on: September 23, 2008 at 11:24PM  

    Jakevk, I am sorry you had such a bad experience with Windows Vista. Turning on your PC and being hammered by automatic updates is not a experience you should be having. Microsoft releases security updates to Windows Update every 2nd Tuesday of each month. I can assure you Microsoft isn't constantly pushing out updates that would give you the experience you had.

    - Brandon

  6. Superpotato
    Posted on: September 23, 2008 at 11:30PM  

    @Jakevk

    You know, you can turn automatic update off... it's not a Mac, you can actually have control of your computer.

    BTW- All the people I know with Macs are now going to buy PCs after Leopard was released. The fact they saw how my Vista 64 works helped too.

  7. shollomon
    Posted on: September 23, 2008 at 11:33PM  

    How about some of these instead of a silly game and backgrounds that move (ugh):

    -SFTP support in explorer.

    -Utility that allows us to theme Vista, for example I'd like the task bar to be a color other than black (Gnome and KDE have it, why not vista)

    -Better sync toy.

    -Tabs in explorer (mentioned by another poster).

  8. dovella
    Posted on: September 24, 2008 at 12:53AM  

    Many many Thank's

    Nice Work!!

  9. zaxy
    Posted on: September 24, 2008 at 3:32AM  

    THe feature with tabs in explorer would be much appreciated if not already needed. I miss this everytime I need to open several windows just to browse through some content. I know there is Total Commander, but why not have it built-in :)

  10. dfa
    Posted on: September 24, 2008 at 4:08AM  

    Windows Update has 2 updates for each new product you mentioned above.

    E.g.

    Microsoft Tinker has two update ID:

    ac1d7a8c-38ab-43b7-812f-10b94c086e08

    a3cc93e7-331f-4cdd-ab93-e8c068c04550

    Why are there two?

  11. Roeland
    Posted on: September 24, 2008 at 7:19AM  

    I am SO dissapointed in Windows Vista Ultimate Extra's, MS said Vista Ultimate Extra's would contain cutting edge, innovative programs, can't you do something better than soundschemes and a stupid game? When you are talking about 6th wave, it looks like there are plenty of extra's available already, but there ain't. And the stuff there is, is certainly NOT cutting edge and innovative. Dreamscene is the only extra I enjoy.

    I feel so betrayed, spending hundreds of euro's (i'm from the netherlands) as a student of what I thought to be a great OS with a lot of (coming) features. The OS works fine for me, but i'm SO dissapointed in the extra's. c'mon MS, please make some apps ultimate users find usefull.

  12. jaxim
    Posted on: September 24, 2008 at 8:18AM  

    In my #4 point, I meant to say "filetypes" not files.

    For example, it would be nice if you can tell the backup utility which type of files (i.e. "ogg", "mts", "fla", "as", "xml", etc) should be included in the backup. As it is right now, there is a vague sense of what type of files you can include and exclude by general categories like "Videos" or "Music". What specific file extensions does the category "Music" include? Obviously it includes MP3 files, but does it include OGG or FLAC files? Does the "Videos" category include newer video types like MTS? There's no easy way to find out thru the Vista interface. These general categories should have a listing of what files extensions it includes so users are not left hoping that the filetypes they wish to be backed up are included in these general categories.

    As a Flash developer, I'd want my FLA, AS, and XML files backed up, but I have no idea what general backup category these filetypes fall under. And even if they fall under the "Additional files" category, then if I select that category in my backup preferences, that may mean that other additional file types may be included in the backup that I do not wish to be backed up, thus making the backup larger than it actually needs to be.

    Allowing power users to specify exactly which file extensions (and folders) to include in the backup would be a much appreciated feature.

  13. KnoxITPro
    Posted on: September 24, 2008 at 8:52AM  

    In response to Jakevk,

    I bet you are getting Windows Defender updates running when you turn your computer on. Defender looks for definition updates pretty much daily. It also wants to scan every day or two.

    You DO have the ability to turn off Windows Defender. Although im not sure why you are having an issue because both the update and scanning of windows defender run without hurting system performance on my computer at all.

    Yet another person who simply doesnt know how to operate the computer and blames Microsoft for no good reason.

  14. BuckFix
    Posted on: September 24, 2008 at 9:23AM  
  15. vb-2008
    Posted on: September 24, 2008 at 12:57PM  
  16. small_mountain
    Posted on: September 24, 2008 at 2:21PM  

    KnoxITPro said this in response to Jakevk:

    "Yet another person who simply doesn't know how to operate the computer and blames Microsoft for no good reason."

    Well, if you have to be a computer expert just to boot up the computer and start working, I think some blame can be laid at Microsoft's feet for that.  Vista is better than XP in this regard, but there is still too much difference between turning on a Windows computer and turning on a TV.  Of course, there are so many more moving parts and configurations in computers than in TVs.  But that is an area where Mac has an edge - selling proprietary hardware makes it much easier to create a more TV-like experience.  For the record, I have both a Mac and a Vista laptop but prefer Vista.

    To Jakevk, I know it's not the green thing to do, but consider leaving your computer on overnight.  That's what I do.  I have Windows Update turned on, and I rarely notice that an update has occurred.

    Eric

  17. KnoxITPro
    Posted on: September 24, 2008 at 4:33PM  

    Small_Mountain

    You don't turn on your car and expect it to drive you somewhere. There is a learning curve for almost anything else you use in life, so why is it unacceptable that you learn how to use Windows? There is certainly a learning curve with OSX, and whether or not it is flatter than Vista's is debatable.

    Infact, with Windows XP a user had to manually schedule a defrag with Task Scheduler, repair NTFS file structure if it was damaged (if recoverable), use a third party software do image based backup, etc.

    With Vista you have built-in scheduled defrags, self-healing NTFS, Complete PC Backup, and many many more features that make it "more TV like."

    Computers might be "turn it on and let it run" someday in the future, but today is not that day. Not Windows, not OSX, not Linux. Atleast not today.

  18. Jay T
    Posted on: September 24, 2008 at 6:53PM  

    These Dreamscenes have to be the weakest out of the crop. The video is grainy, has a low resolution, and the lighting makes it seem like they were taken with a camera phone. I really expect more out of Microsoft.

  19. Netweb
    Posted on: September 24, 2008 at 8:12PM  

    @DFA

    Microsoft Australia Technical Support just tried to charge me $390 to answer this same question.

    So with trial and error the basic difference is that for each update there is a x86 & x64 version.

    Tinker a3... x64 - ac... x86

    Sounds c4... x64 - b5... x86

    Dreams 98... x64 - 4x... x86

    And of course there is nothing mentioned on any of the Update Blogs on any of this either.

    http://blogs.technet.com/mu/

    http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

    http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/

    Cheers,

    Stephen

  20. Kwangsoo Park
    Posted on: September 24, 2008 at 9:55PM  

    Trackback from: http://archvista.net/1005

  21. someone
    Posted on: September 25, 2008 at 12:55AM  

    The quality and value of Ultimate Extras is so so bad. I would rather prefer the beefed up Windows 7 accessories offered as Ultimate Extras. Heck, even the downloadable extras when WGA was introduced were better. Give us the Microsoft Diagnostic and Recovery Toolset as an extra. Give us the Media Center TV Pack as an extra. Give us Microsoft consumer software such as Works, Streets & Trips, Math, or Money as an extra. Three DreamScene videos you say, but I say just one DreamScene video in 3 color varieties! As all others are demanding, I would like some extras that enhance the features of the actual Vista operating system.

  22. MDOC
    Posted on: September 25, 2008 at 1:30AM  

    Thanks for the clarification, Brandon.

  23. R.Kruisselbrink
    Posted on: September 25, 2008 at 4:14AM  

    I agree with jaxim...

    In particular, points 2 and 4.

    Tabbed explorer... i had this idea for a while now and was thinking of building it myself, but no time ;-)

    And the backup just back's-up... something, not even sure what and that's a shame.

  24. lightchpa
    Posted on: September 25, 2008 at 5:59AM  

    Hi,

    I recently purchased a new laptop with Vista Ultimate and integrated TV Tuner.

    Vista média center allow recording only in dvr-ms format witch are not supported by most of the XviD encoding tools.

    I think the possibility to select the recording format (dvr-ms or classical MPEG / MPEG2) would be a great Extra feature.

    Have a nice day !

  25. m3585
    Posted on: September 25, 2008 at 8:39AM  

    "Today we are excited to announce that 3 new Windows Ultimate Extras are now available for installation via Windows Update!"

    You are really excited about this?

    Are stupid statements like this and the ridiculous Mojave nonsense an indication of what we have to look forward to from Microsoft in the future.  Microsoft Bob was less embarrassing.

  26. MacDaddy
    Posted on: September 25, 2008 at 10:54AM  

    As a business owner the extras program is a fraud. Games make my users less productive and dreamscene is so resource intensive it takes away from tasks my users need to perform.

    These extras are a COMPLETE DISASTER because not only are language packs and card games a joke, but as a business we get nothing other than bitlocker, which should already have been included with the business edition. In any case, it's certainly not worth $50+ to have bitlocker as that makes it one of the single most expensive options out there.

    Where is a decent backup toolset? Where are the optimization tools? Streets and Trips is a great idea (although Google does this much better). Can Microsoft not throw us a bone every once in a while?

    I'm disgusted with the whole extras program and I hope someone sues the pants off of Microsoft for an absolute and utter failure. I feel completely shafted.

    John McGreeley

    Summit IT Solutions and Consulting Services

  27. shollomon
    Posted on: September 25, 2008 at 1:24PM  

    There is much to like about Vista and I prefer it to XP and all the Linux Distros I have worked with (I wouldn't consider using Linux on the desktop any more than I would consider using Windows on a server).  I may even prefer Vista to OSX, but I haven't worked with OSX.  

    However, Ultimate Extras are a sore spot for me.  I feel violated every time I think about the extra money I spent apparently to no purpose.  MS needs to make things right for their best customers by providing something of value.  What's been provided so far has no value, or in the case of Dreamscene, negative value for me.

  28. eberge
    Posted on: September 25, 2008 at 3:49PM  

    I agree on the tabbed explorer request.

    I'd also like to see a multi-desktop capability that works a bit more cleanly that the old Microsoft Powertoys Desktop Manager.

  29. KnoxITPro
    Posted on: September 25, 2008 at 4:05PM  

    MacDaddy,

    Somehow i just cant begin to believe that you work for an IT consulting firm, but don't seem to know that bitlocker is also included in Vista Enterprise (the business version for Volume Licensing.)

    Infact, most any IT dept or IT consulting firm with any sense recommends Volume Licensing for business use. Even further, you can limit the use of games and other things like dreamscene via group policy, etc (or just dont install them).

    Dreamscene doesnt even run unless the background is visible. Once a window overtakes the desktop, dreamscene isnt processing that video any longer.

    Shouldnt you know all this?

  30. nycbesad
    Posted on: September 25, 2008 at 6:30PM  

    The good news is that you can be 100% sure there won't be any Windows 7 Ultimate Edition to worry about.

  31. jdhall1010
    Posted on: September 25, 2008 at 6:32PM  

    What,exactly, does "near future" mean in MicroSoft speak?

    And how does the acquisition and distribution of silly 3rd party UE's equate to any effort on MicroSoft's part to develop and deliver software as promised; ie, to "enrich the Windows experience?"

    Is there really a UE team out there in MicroSoftLand or have we "best customers" simply become the standing joke of the operating system universe?

  32. Athandur
    Posted on: September 25, 2008 at 11:22PM  

    KnoxITPro

    When you said

    " Dreamscene doesnt even run unless the background is visible. Once a window overtakes the desktop, dreamscene isnt processing that video any longer."

    I don't think anyone told Bill that, that's what was ment to happen when the desktop was no longer visable. Cause when iv'e ran Crysis with Dreamscene enabled , it has caused my machine to Chug alot. Yet when i disable it before playing i don't get that issue at all.

    I'm not saying your wrong at all, just saying that there might be a glitch in it's implementation, still using some/all of the resources when it's not ment to. (maybe there is a setting to disable)

    I'm not an IT Pro, so maybe it might be something else. But the only thing iv'e changed was Dreamscene  ON/OFF. (Dreamscene Vs solid colour Background)

    Any light to why that is, would be greatly appriciated. Yes - ima noob :)

    To all that reply, thank you :D

    Regards, Ath

  33. DebianFTW
    Posted on: September 26, 2008 at 4:45AM  

    Now will you be releasing a 3d cube function like Linux's Beryl? Maybe even wobbly Windows? I've also heard a rumor that Vista Ultimate doesn't delete it's drivers the way every computer with Vista I've had to fix has...

    Also, shollomon, I'm just curious as to why you wouldn't use Linux on a desktop, personally, I only use Windows Xp Pro on my second hard drive, for playing games when I go round to a lan party, thats all it's good for as far as I'm concerned, my opinion may be biased, but even ReactOS in it's Alpha stages is nearing the stability Windows seems to have, although when it comes to Vista, I have seen the ugliest side, being the friendly neighbourhood techie...

  34. KnoxITPro
    Posted on: September 26, 2008 at 8:26AM  

    Linux isnt overly viable as a desktop solution for 99.9% of people.

    Think about all the people who have some little tiny with Vista or OSX that you go and take care of for them, and now imagine them trying to use a desktop OS where they cant even install a simple plugin or program without running command line.

  35. MacDaddy
    Posted on: September 26, 2008 at 9:51AM  

    KnoxITPro,

    Why are you knocking on me? I'm not a 5000 user shop here with a dedicated TAM and million dollar budgets to throw at OS problems. Do you have any idea how hard it is for a small company to get an Enterprise license along with the necessary infrastructure requirements?

  36. hitmouse
    Posted on: September 26, 2008 at 11:35AM  

    Screamscene doesn't enhance my Vista experience. It just makes it more unstable. I'd just like to have NVidia drivers that didn't totally black out the entire screen whenever UAC is invoked, so that I don't have to play hunt the active button/editbox at least 5x/day.

  37. plucinskij
    Posted on: September 26, 2008 at 1:09PM  

    @HitMouse: Did you try disabling UAC running in the secure desktop?

    To do this hold WINKEY+R, type secpol.msc, expand Local Policies, select Security Options, scroll down until you find "User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation" (second from bottom in the list for me). Double click that setting and change it do disabled.

    That should at least stop your screen blacking out, but will still enable UAC prompts to appear, this time on your desktop.

  38. Photo1921a
    Posted on: September 26, 2008 at 2:47PM  

    Tabs on explorer, never thought of that. That would be interesting.  Would like to try that.  My suggestion is open up the UI let customers / power users decide where tools bars, ADDRESS BARS, menu bars, icon bars go. Been saying this since the early betas, and nah Microsoft will never change on this, it's one those huge, Walls we all have to Live with.  Why?  Who knows no one from Microsoft will answer on why it's better with the UI locked down. "Vita per Moenia" :)    

  39. KnoxITPro
    Posted on: September 26, 2008 at 4:21PM  

    Macdaddy,

    Just pointing out some general facts.

    Any organization running more than 25-30 users should be switching over to a SBS with Active Directory and i think almost any decent consultant would recommend the same. Workgroup settings just arent viable when you grow past a certain limit and users need to be constrained, and resources shared.

    Even still, Gpedit.msc is present in Ultimate and can be edited manually, per machine, to acheive similar effects as AD GPOs. Its quite easy to lock down Vista. If you are unfamiliar with GPedit and worry about messing with it, try Windows SteadyState (formerly Shared Computer Toolkit). Its free and accomplishes much of what you probably need concerning user environment control.

  40. MacDaddy
    Posted on: September 26, 2008 at 9:51PM  

    KnoxITPro,

    That's great. Those aren't my facts and not how I run my company. Thank you for your concerns though.

    Wasn't this thread supposed to be about Extras? How did we get it shifted onto a topic about SBS and gpedit tools? I wasn't even talking about that. I was talking about the LAME STATE OF THE EXTRAS PROGRAMS. That's it.

  41. plucinskij
    Posted on: September 26, 2008 at 10:13PM  

    How about the wallpapers from Tinker being released as an extra? That'd be a good start to all the extras I'm hoping you have lined up before 7's release. The Windows wallpapers got old not long after I joined the beta, and tinker's were great.

  42. hitmouse
    Posted on: September 27, 2008 at 5:03AM  

    @plucinskij: I have this problem on multiple PCs, and most are Home premium so don't have poledit or gpedit.

    I also don't think wallpaper has any value as an extra. I have more than enough images to use from my own camera efforts, setting aside the near infinite supply of free images on the net.

    I would also make the point that the current lame roundup of Extras is of low value to those with imperfect vision and/or hearing.

  43. KnoxITPro
    Posted on: September 29, 2008 at 8:20AM  

    MacDaddy,

    It gets off topic because you insult the Extra's in part because you cant control a user running and "slowing down their machine"

    I guess if you don't run your CONSULTING business with industry standard best practices, then heres praying for your customers.

  44. MacDaddy
    Posted on: September 29, 2008 at 10:08AM  

    KnoxITPro,

    Get off it. Stop insulting people. Calm down. This is just a blog.

    Congratulations on your gpedit capabilities. Really, you are just the best. I suck. There. Are you happy now?

    J

  45. plucinskij
    Posted on: September 29, 2008 at 4:00PM  

    @HitMouse: I did reply with a URL that details how to disable it on non-gpedit SKUs but the comment didn't get past moderation. Details can be found here (from the UAC blog no less):

    http://blogs.msdn.com/uac/archive/2006/05/03/589561.aspx

  46. Brandon LeBlanc
    Microsoft
    Posted on: September 29, 2008 at 7:21PM  

    All - let's keep things constructive and respectful or I'll turn off comments on this post. I had to remove several comments that were out of line. Please, feel free to share your opinions and respond to other people's comments but do so in a constructive and respectful manner.

    Thank you,

    Brandon

  47. MacShrike
    Posted on: October 09, 2008 at 5:56PM  

    Ls,

    Tinker!

    Yeah how about that, a free game...for the price of paying extra for ultimate but hey.. we'd paid that already; fairs fair.

    Nevertheless, magnificent work from fuelgames i'd say. It's oldfashionedly good, good looking, and very funny.

    Some say the standard level are childsplay. I'd have to agree but..

    It also comes with a splendid and worthwhile Level editor, at no extra cost.

    So for the puzzle fans already bored out with the game. Here's some levels to sink your teeth in: Http://members.chello.nl/m.rheenen82

    Enjoy & make some yourself.

    Regards,

    Mac

  48. wayneb64
    Posted on: October 15, 2008 at 11:20PM  

    Why is the premium to ultimate upgrade so expensive? I bought premium for my HTPC as the comparison info mentioned nothing of Dreamscene and I don't need all that business and security stuff. If I had known about Dreamscene only being supported by Ultimate I could have paid the extra $60 or so for it, but now I am expected to pay more than double that?

    All I want is an animated desktop and I specifically DON'T want all that other stuff. Why was this feature bundled with Ultimate? Home users just don't need all that other stuff.

  49. concep86
    Posted on: October 21, 2008 at 8:43AM  

    Jakevk, Let me clue you in to something called "Change settings" in windows update.  

    As I remember it, when you purchase a new pc...  the last mile is yours to configure.

    So dont blame anyone but yourself for answering "yes" to automatic updates.  You did that to yourself, dude

    God knows I am not happy with everything microsoft does...  but Vista is a winner!  

    Their multiple sku's is another thing...

    But that said.

    Hello to everyone else...

  50. Alan Peng
    Posted on: October 26, 2008 at 12:08PM  

    Hi, Chris, I am so lucky to happen to find this blog.

    In fact, there was (and still "is") a problem with this Tinker ~

    It didn't install well. After the update was complete, nothing ever showed up in the Game Center.

    Have been wondering if you're going to release a patch for this problem ?

    I had to find the solution all around myself.

    I believe this is definitely not way that you want your clients to do :-)

    Cheers !

    Alan

  51. Geek
    Posted on: October 29, 2008 at 11:28AM  

    You know, for the extra money people paid for Ultimate, Microsoft really need to be stabbed repeatedly in the eyes with rusty forks.

    You stole our money and gave buyers nothing but a slower computer and flickering damn task bar.  Ultimate extras?  Pah!  Nothing in that content justifies the extra cash paid, not even the BitLocker encryption (TrueCrypt is better, faster and free), Shadow Copy (haha) or remote access (TightVNC).  Some games, sounds and Tinker?  When did I ask for gypsies in my OS?

    Microsoft, I used your platform for many years, and XP SP2 was your pinnacle. You lost me and many others with Vista, as you treated us all like idiots and lied to us repeatedly, after stealing our money with false marketing and broken promises.  Show Us Your Wow?  More like Show Us Your WTF!

    The time has possibly come to move away and find a company that can actually engineer an operating system which takes security seriously, not as an afterthought.

    If you want people to consider you in the future, rebuild Windows from the ground up, using virtualization for legacy applications.  We won't hate you for it.  In fact, we'll be proud you had the guts to do it.

    Failing that, Windows 7 had better have less disk and RAM/CPU requirements and actually run like an OS, without the bloat or the ridiculous implementation of "security".

    You're on your last chance.  Don't mess it up.

  52. DJ Yoshi
    Posted on: October 30, 2008 at 3:05PM  

    after I told people that I built my new machine that's primarily for:

    high-end audio recording, beat production, sequencing, editing...

    they were like that sounds great...then I tell them I put

    Vista Ultimate 64 bit and they say: "what a waste" or "why"

    here's why, 64 ultimate is the truth.

    it's stable, it's intuitive, it's safe....

    there were some programs that I've had on a mac and it's...

    CRASHED. yeah a mac crashing? this is 10.5...then I upgraded it and it still crashed.

    Sure there are issues like I had to step up to a better sound board... i can't use protools in 64 bit...but i could care less.

    vista ultimate 64 bit is awesome.

    and Jake, try playing around with the system to get used to it and customize it to you..then ghost it so you can have a backup.

    and i'm definitely not mad that I only paid $59 for vista ultimate 64 bit!

  53. Lancorp
    Posted on: November 01, 2008 at 10:35AM  

    I think a great edition to Ultimate Extras would be an Album Art screensaver, ala the iTunes screensaver.

    Only one exists that I know of, and it's by someone at CrayonRoom -- www.crayonroom.com/screensaver.php

    The problem is it doesn't work under Vista without issues, and 64-bit Vista is a bit of a problem.  This is a GREAT utility that Microsoft could "reimburse" the original author for, fix it, rewrite it as 32 bit and 64 bit, and make it an Ultimate Extra.

    Zune software has something similar when you are playing a song, but to have an actual screensaver that works would be awesome!

  54. dfghyjuk
    Posted on: November 03, 2008 at 11:10AM  

    ghjkl;'\

  55. LS
    Posted on: November 03, 2008 at 3:41PM  

    Ok Gang.  Here's a fun one.  I chose all my urgent downloads recently and then also chose the new Vista Ultimate Content Pack 4.  The updates crashed just about 3/4 the way through.

    When I looked for my new content pack it wasn't there.  When I checked my update history it said I cancelled the installation.  I didn't - it crashed!

    Either way I don't have the ability to go back and get the content pack - Win Update tells me there are no new available extras and no new updates to download....

  56. adrian