Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

One of the reasons why I slaughtered my piggy bank last February for the more expensive version of Windows Vista was because of its manufacturer’s promise of extras that would make them look like they got the bad end of the bargain.

While I was already impressed with the features of the basic or low-end versions of Microsoft’s new operating system, I was still curious as to what Vista Ultimate has to or will continuously offer. It’s basically just the same with Vista Home Premium and Vista Business. It more or less just combined the peculiar or exclusive attributes of the two. Of course, there’s more to Ultimate than just the amalgamation of its two less expensive counterparts.

Security and Add-Ons

Vista Ultimate users were promised a more secure OS and a lot of extras that would make their program seem like it’s getting a constant retouch or upgrade. One of the most enticing add-on announced by Redmond was the BitLocker encryption tool. While I greatly considered this security feature when I decided to ditch the free Vista Home edition offer by the computer shop where I bought my new Sony Vaio laptop, what I was really looking forward to was DreamScene. There’s already much hype on the crystal clear, 3-dimensional desktop background of all Windows Vista versions. DreamScene promised to push the feature a notch higher by allowing videos to be played or displayed as your desktop background. Cool, huh?

Nailed Promises

In keeping with its custom of disappointing a good number of its customers, Microsoft has just announced that many of the extras that it promised during the launch of its software will not be immediately available. Since its OS debuted, only four extras have been released by Microsoft, namely: 16 language packs, DreamScene (beta version only), BitLocker (prep tool), and a poker game.

Four extras in 6 months. That’s definitely disappointing. I was so optimistic last February that Microsoft would be able to deliver or make good on their pledges with regard to the extras that I even entertained the thought that DreamScene would already have its second version before the year ends. But alas, even its first version isn’t even out yet. The photo editing tool which was also one of the bannered extras for Ultimate during the months preceding the release of the OS is also nowhere to be found.

Mea Maxima Culpa

To the credit of Microsoft, it didn’t give any excuses or make attempts to exonerate itself for the delays. However, their refusal to give a definite timetable as to the release of the extras is frustrating. What kept me going all these months as far as being patient with the releases is concerned is the hope that many of the pledged add-ons would already be available by the summer.

Its decision to withhold the date of the releases of Ultimate’s extras might help quell demands for the immediate release of the add-ons. However, it might backfire or create an even bigger dilemma for them since Ultimate owners might feel that they’ve been thrown into limbo.

I hope Microsoft would be able deliver on its promises soon. While I commend them for responding to a lot of complaints with regard to their new OS, especially device driver queries and dilemmas, I think that there’s still a lot of room for improvement as far as customer relations and satisfaction is concerned.

Entry Filed under: Device Drivers