Windows Vista Ultimate Extras Revealed

Nick White — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 10:44:00 GMT

This year's keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas by Bill Gates showed off Microsoft's upcoming Ultimate Extras for consumers who purchase the Windows Vista Ultimate SKU. MS now has three Ultimate Extras lined up to hit Windows Vista Ultimate users on 30th January to coincide with Windows Vista's general availability date.

Windows DreamScene: Windows DreamScene gives users the ability to use a video as their desktop background, just as they would any stationary image background. DreamScene will consist of high-quality looped videos that make your desktop come alive. As a default, we've included a nice waterfall video (shown at the keynote) among several others. Better yet, you can even use your own videos. Want to know a little-known secret? For computers that support Windows Aero, DreamScene offers enhancements to positioning of stationary images as wallpapers in Windows Vista.

BitLocker and EFS Enhancements: MS will provide enhancements to BitLocker in Ultimate Extras, including a tool called the Secure Online Key Backup, with which you can store your BitLocker recovery password on a secure MS website.

Texas Hold'em Poker Game: MS is bringing this popular poker game to Windows Vista. With this Ultimate Extra, you can add to your Windows gaming experience. Hold'em players: Windows Vista's DirectX improvements give you amazing graphics effects in the game -- you can play up to five computer players at once. We've also thrown in the ability to customize the table and cards, too.

Ultimate Extras are slated for release on 30 January, and this is just the beginning -- we're not stopping here. More Ultimate Extras are coming. You're going to want to pay special attention to the brand new Windows Ultimate Web site for updates and information on current and upcoming Windows Vista Ultimate Extras.

Windows Vista Team Blog : Hold’em Poker

Windows Vista Ultimate Extras Revealed