Microsoft promises more Ultimate 'Extras'
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The development team building "Extras" add-ons for Windows Vista Ultimate says it's working hard but offered few details about what or when new Extras would be released.
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(InfoWorld) - Critics who blasted Microsoft three months ago for failing to deliver Windows Vista add-ons have again called the company on the carpet, this time for missing its self-imposed deadline to provide promised extras. In late June, bloggers and users were already panning Vista Ultimate Extras as a bust. Extras, available only to customers running the top-end Vista edition, was one of the features cited by Microsoft to distinguish the $399 operating system from its $239 cousin, Home Premium. Microsoft's online marketing, for instance, touted Extras as "cutting-edge programs, innovative services, and unique publications" that would be regularly offered to Ultimate users. But by June, Microsoft had not released any new Extras since it issued a beta of DreamScene, a video screensaver, in February. That infuriated some users; several days later, Microsoft tried to defuse the situation by promising to wrap up DreamScene and 20 unfinished language packs. "We apologize for taking so long to provide a status update to customers," said Barry Goffe, the director of Vista Ultimate, in a posting to a Microsoft blog on July 2. "We intend to ship Windows DreamScene and the remaining 20 Language Packs by the end of the summer." But summer has come and gone, and users now say there has been nothing new from Extras. "Even if the Windows Ultimate team has fled to the International Date Line, summer is officially over," said Windows enthusiast Long Zheng, who blogs at iStartedSomething. Zheng was one of those who turned up the heat on Microsoft earlier in the summer with several postings about the Extras' no-show. "Normally I wouldn't care what season it is in the northern hemisphere, but today it proves this team is incapable [of] delivering anything and should never be trusted again. "The truth is, customers are getting near to nothing [from Extras]," Zheng said Sunday. Most users who left comments on Zheng's blog said they too felt bamboozled. "While I didn't only purchase Ultimate so that I could get the extras, it certainly was a deciding factor," said a user identified as T-Man. "The thought of getting something more was certainly appealing. Especially given the price premium for Ultimate, this is certainly a very hard pill to swallow." A minority, however, was more forgiving about the failure to make the deadline. "Ultimate Extras are just that ... extras," said Brandon Live, a Microsoft employee who works in its search group, in a comment to Zheng's blog. "While I am disappointed with how they've been handled, I never considered them to be the reason anyone would buy Ultimate." "I'm pleased with Vista Ultimate as it is. Just relax, and they will deliver on their own time, not yours," added someone identified as Lipo Network. A few users had fun at Microsoft's expense on the company's own support newsgroups. "Did they mention what year the end of summer release was going to be in?" asked a user identified as "theclyde" on the Vista General Discussion newsgroup. Another user on the newsgroup, Andrew McLaren, said he was Australian, and wondered if Vista team had its hemispheres confused. "Hmmm, maybe the Ultimate Extras guys were thinking of the *Southern* summer? Maybe we'll see those updates by February 08?" Microsoft's Goffe did give Extras an out in his July 2 post, the most recent blog update. "We will not ship the last two Extras showcased in January (Windows DreamScene and the remaining 20 Language Packs) until they meet the high quality bar required by our enthusiastic customers," he said. "We believe that we can achieve that bar by the end of this summer." "That's a catch-all phrase," noted a user named Robert Firth on the Vista newsgroup. "Doesn't matter if it is the end of summer, they said if it isn't ready, it isn't ready. So they could still be telling the truth." That's not good enough, said some. "The only 'ultimate' thing about my copy of Vista is that it is the last copy I will buy of a Microsoft OS," said Bayleaf in a comment on Zheng's blog. Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate
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A new version of Office Live Small Business adds new features and a new pricing scheme to Microsoft's online service.
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NEW YORK -- Microsoft Corp. and its hardware partners are trying to bridge the divide between home computers and TV sets this holiday season with the release of several "media extenders."
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In a bid to further differentiate itself from open source rivals, Microsoft Tuesday said it will expand its indemnification program to cover the vast majority of its customers.
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The new version of Windows is about to make its debut for businesses. Here's what you can expect.
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Microsoft is offering a new subscription model to small businesses that will allow them to use the company&#39;s software for less cost than the currently available licensing model.
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Higher-capacity MP3 players and notebooks could be coming next year.
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Microsoft Corp.  said on  Thursday that more than 200 million users will be using one of  its new products -- including its highly-anticipated Windows  Vista operating system, Office 2007 software suite and Exchange  server -- by the end of 2007.
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Alternative browser will be available on portable devices running Microsoft's OS.
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Microsoft has some serious questions to answer....
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Microsoft Corp. plans to unveil new versions of its Dynamics GP and SL ERP software that improve integration with Office applications and SharePoint Server tools.
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The Microsoft operating system is improved by the soon-to-arrive service pack, but Windows Vista still is missing some features we'd like to see.
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Microsoft said today it would make the service pack 1 software update available this month to some customers.
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Microsoft Corp has issued further details of new reporting and business intelligence features that it plans to introduce into its present and future SQL Server relational database platform.