So, we finally have a new Windows Vista Ultimate Add-on… only it’s not all that new, and it’s not all that ultimate. My screen resolution is still too high for me to run DreamScene. To tell you the truth, that might be a blessing. I’m not so sure I’d want a motion background sucking away extra CPU cycles?

No matter, Barry Goffe (Director, Windows Vista Ultimate) posted on the Ultiamte Blog today:

While we are excited about shipping DreamScene, the remaining 19 language packs are, unfortunately, not yet ready for release. Recently we realized that Ultimate customers who tried to install the language packs that shipped earlier this year were experiencing an unacceptably high number of failures during installation. We continue to make delivering the highest quality, most secure Extras our top priority, and we will not ship any Extra until it is absolutely ready. We know this is disappointing, and again we apologize, but we are working hard to ensure that all of the remaining language packs will be ready for release by the end of October.

Not to take away from those who are anxiously awaiting these language packs, but I only speak English. Why should I be looking forward to anything other than something I could actually use? Moreover, since when was a language pack considered an “Ultimate” add-on? Shouldn’t a “language pack” be inherent in the OS itself?

While I can understand how community sites and bloggers may have read the new definition and assumed that Microsoft is not shipping any more Extras, in reality the opposite is true. In addition to the remaining Language Packs, we plan to ship a collection of additional Windows Ultimate Extras that we are confident will delight our passionate Windows Vista Ultimate customers. We will shed more light on these plans once the Language Packs are finally dislodged from our delivery pipeline!

By then, I’m sure even the most passionate Windows Vista Ultimate customers will be looking at Leopard as an even more Ultimate operating system for their needs.