Some good news for those waiting for the final release of Windows DreamScene:
Today Microsoft is making available the final code for Windows DreamScene™, an Ultimate Extra that enables high-definition video content to be displayed as the desktop background. PC users running Windows Vista Ultimate will also have access to over 200 three-dimensional, animated DreamScene desktops – such as “Aurora,” “Blissful Dream” and “Liquid Dream” –created in conjunction with Stardock. Windows Vista Ultimate users can visit Stardock’s Dream.WinCustomize.com website to upload and share DreamScenes they’ve created.
So look out for it appearing on Windows Update soon.
This "extra" joins the existing Windows Ultimate Extras lineup:
Windows Hold’em (an electronic version of the popular poker game)
Language Packs for the Windows multi-language user interface (36 languages are available today)
Windows BitLocker ™ Drive Preparation Tool (a tool that helps your mobile PC work with the Bitlocker functions of Windows Vista out of the box)
But if you were waiting for the other language packs, you're out of luck:
Unfortunately, Microsoft will not be releasing the remaining Language Packs today as previously announced due to a set-up bug that has been discovered with the existing Language Packs. While the delay this bug has caused is frustrating for Microsoft and for its customers, it made it necessary to hold off shipping the remaining Language Packs to ensure the quality bar was met. The Ultimate Extras team is hopeful that the remaining Packs will be ready by the end of October.
This isn't enough for me to cut Microsoft some slack on the Ultimate Extras though ... the current lineup, even if the remaining language packs are installed, is a paltry show.
[Updated: Sept 25, 2007 @ 11.20 am - Some more info.
Here's a post by Barry Goffe, the director of marketing for Windows Vista Ultimate. This post contains a bit of new information but the most telling part is this:
On a different topic, 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.
This is curious because the original definition of the Windows Extras (as currently described by Windows Vista) is not narrow at all (check out the screenshots here).
