When Vista was first released, Microsoft used BitLocker and the promise that Ultimate Extras would be released on a regular basis, convincing some users that Ultimate would be worth the steep price, which was initially $400. However, after the years went by, some Vista users got more and more angry, and ever more articles were created in which writers and users accused Microsoft of ripping them off. Instead of the regular updates that users were led to believe that they would receive, paying as much as $160 extra for the Ultimate version, Vista Ultimate users have received nothing but a few extra, rarely used features, a Hold’Em game (among the millions of other free Hold’Em games, available for any OS), some language packs (useless for most people), some sounds, Tinker, and the ability to use videos as your desktop.
The language packs should have been included by default (or offered) for every Vista edition, considering that it’s languages; charging for the language packs is basically charging extra for the interface. The few extra features, Dreamscene, the two games, and the sounds are understandably exclusive to Ultimate; however, they are most certainly not worth the extra $100-160 that Microsoft charged. Now, with Microsoft’s decision to allow pre-ordering of Home Premium and Professional (but not Ultimate), Microsoft has slapped the Vista Ultimate users in the face. Not only did these users get ripped off tricked, but they are also being denied a chance to obtain the Ultimate version of Windows 7 at a fair price (to help lessen the sting of Vista Ultimate).
This cannot be a good marketing move as most Vista Ultimate users (such as myself) are passionate about technology and Microsoft as a whole, and not just your ordinary, silent customers. We wanted unique, exciting extras that were exclusive to Vista Ultimate (every Ultimate Extra except for the language packs have been ported back to XP and other Vista editions) and ongoing, yet Microsoft coughed up almost nothing. Instead of hurting their competition with Vista Ultimate, Microsoft has enticed Vista Ultimate users to simply buy the Home Premium version this time around, or even more drastic, switch to a different OS such as GNU/Linux or buy a Mac. And now that Windows 7 Ultimate has been announced, it appears that it will simply be Windows Vista Ultimate without DreamScene or other Vista Ultimate extras.
Instead of simply apologizing (if you can even call it an apology) for the outright scam failure that was Vista Ultimate, Microsoft could at least offer a significant discount on the upgrade version of Windows 7 Ultimate for Vista Ultimate users (as the final Ultimate extra), or maybe even eliminate the Ultimate (Enterprise) SKU and combine it with Professional. This would simplify the abundance of SKUs and make the pain of Vista Ultimate a little easier.
What do you think?
