Windows Vista Team Blog : Windows Vista, DreamScene

New Silverlight DreamScenes for download

Nick White — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 06:12:00 GMT

The Sliverlight crew has put together a Silverlight DreamScene that they call "Dusk" and are releasing at MIX07 this week, in both standard 4:3 and widescreen 16:9 aspect ratios. The downloads are part of an updated Silverlight-enabled site that the team will be unveiling on Monday 30 April.

But, as Brandon points out in his post, you can get them ahead of everyone else. He has a video of the download as well in case you want to preview it.

Keep your eyes right here on the blog for more MIX07 news ...

Windows Ultimate Extra 'DreamScene' is available

Nick White — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:47:00 GMT

Windows Vista Ultimate users may have noticed a nice little surprise today when checking for new Windows updates: the Ultimate Extras Team has released a Technical Preview for Windows DreamScene. You can get all the latest updates and information from the Ultimate Extras Team over at their Windows Ultimate site.

This Technical Preview currently includes a single DreamScene -- an animated version of Windows Vista's default wallpaper. You can of course expect more DreamScenes to become available in future releases of Ultimate Extras.

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.