• Windows Vista Team Blog : 10 Things ? Windows Media Center Movie Browser
  For those using Home Premium or Ultimate, the Movie Browser is another one of those functions that's available but many don't know about.
  (tags: Review Media Center )
• Internet statistics reveal Vista?s lack of acceptance.
  I doubt it's a very scientific study, but some stats suggest Vista only makes up 3% of web browsing. I'm sure if I look at my logs, my stats would suggest almost everyone is using Vista. Who's right? Who cares.
  (tags: PR )
• MISSING: Vista Ultimate Language Packs
  Apparently the Vista Ultimate Language Packs disappeared for a bit, but are now back.
  (tags: Ultimate Language Extras )
• Vista DWM-Based Virtual Desktop Manager
  Create as many virtual desktops as you wish, and access them with keyboard shortcuts.
  (tags: Software Desktop DWM )
• Vista will never run well on mobile devices
  JK explains why Vista won't run well on mobile devices for the foreseeable future.
  (tags: Opinion Review )
• Ad-Aware now Vista compatible
  If you?ve made the switch to Windows Vista, your favorite anti-spyware is now compatible to make sure you are protected against the latest security threats that will inevitably sneak into your computer?and into your life!
  (tags: Software Compatibility )

WSUS and Ultimate Extras

Many Ultimate users will have never heard of WSUS, but a vocal minority will be interested in this blog entry. Currently, if your computer is administered by WSUS 2.5, you cannot install Ultimate Extras. So what’s going on?

First, for those not in the know, WSUS is Windows Server Update Services, a technology that allows IT administrators to deploy the latest Microsoft product updates to their users’ computers, or block updates they do not want users to install. If you are a home user, it is very unlikely WSUS is in your house (and you know if it is). However, if you are running Windows at work, then your company may have deployed WSUS.

If you want to see if your computer is administered by WSUS, it is easy. Open the Windows Update control panel and look at the line of text which begins “You receive updates:” If the text after that is “Managed by your system administrator” then WSUS is active, otherwise, not.

This all is very technical, and might sound pretty far afield from Windows Ultimate and Ultimate Extras, but it’s not. For instance, a number of small businesses are choosing Ultimate for its complete feature set and Extras, and WSUS to reduce administration costs. In any case, Extras are not available for WSUS admins to deploy, so computers in WSUS-managed domains cannot install any Extras.

That’s not a good situation for customers, so we plan to improve it. The Ultimate team is working with Windows Update to revise the Extras to be offered to WSUS.

This change will mean all users of Ultimate—even business users, provided their IT administration approves—will have the choice of installing Ultimate Extras. Administrators will still be able to block offering and installation of Extras, so our team can’t tell every user they can get Extras, but more of you will have the option.

Why was it not this way from the beginning? We’re a small team, and Ultimate was designed more as a consumer-focused edition of Windows Vista. We cut support for WSUS at launch to reduce the test burden, and because we didn’t think many WSUS environments would deploy Ultimate. We’re hearing that we were wrong, so all the Wave Zero Extras will be offered to WSUS later this year. There will be either an announcement on this site, or I will cover it in this blog, but we’ll let you know.

Thanks for the feedback!

Microsoft is finalizing testing of Windows DreamScene through a Technical Preview phase. We have made the preview release available on Windows Update. A final release will follow. We have also released additional content, described at the bottom of this post. Stay tuned for more updates.

Your desktop background comes to life with Windows DreamScene™. When you download this Ultimate Extra, you can select a video for your desktop background the same way you select a stationary picture. You can choose one of the high-quality looping videos that we’ve included, or use a video from a company that produces content for DreamScene. You can even use your own video as a background.

If you’re wondering what effect a video background might have on your battery life, don’t worry. Windows DreamScene respects your power settings and pauses the video to conserve battery power.

Some things that you should know before you start using Windows DreamScene:

• Windows DreamScene supports only .mpeg and .wmv video file formats.
• Windows DreamScene video support requires a graphics card that supports Windows Aeroâ„¢.

For computers that do not support the Windows Aero desktop experience, this Extra still has something to offer: Windows DreamScene adds new positioning options for backgrounds, including stationary pictures.

To date, we have released five high-definition video backgrounds for Windows DreamScene. The first of these is installed with the Windows DreamScene Preview; we released the other four on Windows Update.  Those four are currently offered to users who have installed the preview release.

• The Windows Vista default background, animated (installed with Windows DreamScene Preview)
• A field of thistle, with a bee gathering pollen
• The rushing water of a forest stream
• A streetlamp reflected in a puddle, with softly falling rain
• Orange wisps flowing in a computer-generated scene

See our website’s front-page announcement for more information on the first content release, and watch the short video below to see this Ultimate Extra in action.

View Video
Format: wmv
Duration: 00:16

Windows DreamScene is currently available only as a preview version, but many of you have chosen to install it. In recognition of your interest, we accelerated our schedule to release a Content Pack that contains four video backgrounds, which are now available on Windows Update.

The four videos are:

• A field of thistle, with a bee gathering pollen
• The rushing water of a forest stream
• A streetlamp reflected in a puddle, with softly falling rain
• Orange wisps flowing in a computer-generated scene

We’re offering these video backgrounds only to users who have installed the Windows DreamScene Preview. However, the Content Pack will continue to be available when the final version of DreamScene is released, so don’t worry about installing the preview just so you can obtain them. The preview version is an unsupported release; it is not appropriate for users who are uncomfortable with installing prerelease software. If you’ve installed the Windows DreamScene Preview, click Check for updates in Windows Update to see the Content Pack, which is offered as an Ultimate Extra.

We plan to release additional content sometime after the final version of Windows DreamScene is released. For now, enjoy these four videos, plus the “aurora” content that was installed with the preview version. Plus, don’t forget you can use your own WMV and MPEG videos!

The Ultimate team released updates to the Hold ‘Em Poker Game and BitLocker and EFS enhancements Extras. The major new functionality is that these Extras have been localized to the following languages.

Hold ‘Em Poker Game: Danish; Dutch; English; Finnish; French; German; Italian; Japanese; Norwegian (BokmÃ¥l); Polish; Portuguese (Brazil); Russian; Spanish; Swedish

BitLocker and EFS enhancements: Arabic; Chinese (Traditional); Chinese (Hong Kong S.A.R.); Chinese (Simplified); Danish; Dutch; English; Finnish; French; German; Hebrew; Italian; Japanese; Korean; Norwegian (Bokmål); Polish; Portuguese (Brazil); Russian; Spanish; Swedish

We are excited about release because it gives more of you access to these Extras. Even if your language is not included, if you install any language pack for the languages listed above, you can now install these Extras. And more languages are coming. When they are available, we will post another announcement on this website.