MS doesn't care about Vista. All they are probably concentrating on is finishing SP1 (so they don't get sued by those with faulty systems...) and working on Windows 7.

Vista was and is a failure...

Well, you may be right, but I hope this isn't the case. I don't blame MS for working on "the next big thing." Maybe Windows 7 will be to Vista what XP was to Windows ME. Maybe Windows 7 will be "Longhorn: As It Was Meant to Be... and Then Some"

But all that is years and years away; and we are here, in 2008. Many of us are using Vista; others are sticking with XP. Surely, MS will work at improving Vista while we wait for Windows 7. SP1 is critical. But some new apps that exploit WPF, or that increase productivity, etc., would be great and are sorely needed.

Actually I heard that MS wants to get Windows 7 out by 2010.

Thats like putting a car together and saying the hell with it if it has 3 round tires and one square one, we got more important things to do. I think people need to start putting some pressure on these outfits to put out a non buggy product rather than just accepting a buggy product and making excuses for them.

Where's the buggy product? I've got the necessary hardware and have been using Vista for a year and i love it...much less buggy than my experience with XP. Not that XP was super buggy, but I've found Vista much more stable, less crashing, less rebooting than XP. I honestly feel that most people with Vista are very happy and just can't be bothered to say so...those with problems make a big noise....this is nothing new....

If you are happy with XP then stick with it and stop bashing Vista. I love Vista but don't bash XP, which in my experience was more buggy than my present Vista setup. Live and let live guys, there is room for all of us

I agree completely. I rather like Vista and prefer it to XP for just about everything. Sometimes I think the performance lags a little, but I feel that SP1 will really help in this department.

The intention of this thread, however, was not to bash Vista, but rather to call attention to the lack of Ultimate Extras. This is where MS has let us down. I wouldn't mind seeing some "Longhorn" features rebranded as Ultimate Extras, as well as cool system tools or productivity apps.

MS really needs to take action to rectify the egregious lack of Ultimate Extras.

They are "extras" not "requiered".  I think you "get what you get and you don't throw a fit" (as we tell my littlest daughter).

Marketing them as they did, MS implies that you are getting these things for free in addition to the core feature set.  By doing it this way they owe you nothing.  More extras would be nice. . . but I doubt you'll see much more.

Always add another year to what they announce as a release date for an OS.

XP is the most stable OS I've ever used. It only goes south when I do something I shouldn't. With the Stardock stuff and a few other goodies "It's all good".

Zubaz: as I've said before you Stardock guys are so tied in with MS you'll never say anything bad about them. Understandable but the facts are facts. Vista isn't as good as MS said it would be. MS let people down. Those are facts. That's life.

I had problem after problem trying to dual boot Xp and Vista. I uninstalled Vista and put it on the shelf for awhile. I recently uninstalled XP and went full time Vista and it is working very well. No complaints now.

You don't know me very well. 
Xp was great.  I use it on most of my PCs.  Vista is better in some ways and worse in others.  I expect the "worse" things to get better . . just like every other app.

This discussion is about the Ultimate extras.  Anyone who bought Ultimate for the extras is/was an idiot in my book.  Those who bought Ultimate for the featureas of Home Premium + Business may have made a good choice (based on thier needs).

And for what it's worth . . no matter what my relationship is with Stardock, I bought my own OS, my WC subscription, and ODNT.  I speak my mind about the products I purchase. 

I actually did buy Vista Ultimate for other reasons, and I'm not disappointed (although I admit that performance enhancements via SP1 are needed). I actually like Vista a lot. I have no problems with it, now that drivers are mainstream.



Here, however, I disagree. Perhaps MS didn't outright lie, but let's call a spade a spade: It was false advertising -- or at least premature enthusiasm for concepts that they didn't deliver.

The signs that "things fell apart" are pretty clear: When Ultimate first shipped, the official Windows Ultimate Extras team web site was up-and-running quickly, with all sorts of exciting dialog and fanfare. But very, very quickly, they stopped writing. And that's the worst part: The failure to communicate. They basically just stuck their heads in the sand.

Contrast that, for example, with how Brad is always quick to respond to criticism even more candidly than applause. Just a few weeks ago, he posted about how Stardock had or had not served the community, and what his plans were for the future.

When a product like Ultimate launches with promises of great things to come (which help entice the user to purchase that version), then they at least owe it to us users to remain accessible and to stay in frequent contact.

There is a saying in surgery about what decides the character of a good surgeon. It's called the Three As: "Availability... Affability... and lastly, Ability."

We would be more understanding of problems in the last category if they at least made an honest and concerted effort in the first two.

I just find it funny.

No where does Microsoft say how many extras would ship nor when they would ship. If they dont send any extras for 5 years so be it. They never said they would have a set amount of extras out a year or any extras out at any given time.

They did say they would put out more language packs and release Deskscapes. Which they did. Other than that there is nothing that has been said about extras. If people buy the OS thinking that they will get all sorts of "EXTRA" goodies that is their fault.

They are called extra for a reason.

Last time I messed with Vista Ultimate the extra game they offered wouldn't even install...

How about 'Affordability'?

Gotta be high on that '3 A's' list....