Microsoft dumps Ultimate Extras from Windows 7

From InfoWorld: Microsoft will not offer "Ultimate Extras" in Window 7, the company has confirmed, saying it abandoned the heavily-criticized concept to focus on "existing features."

"Our new approach to planning and building Windows doesn't have the capacity to continue to deliver features outside the regular release cycle," a company spokeswoman said in response to questions about Windows 7. "While our core development team is focused on building the next release, our sustained engineering team is focused on updates to existing features. As a result we don't plan to create Ultimate Extras."

Microsoft said last week that it will deliver a Windows 7 Ultimate edition as part of the new operating system release, but it has not spelled out in detail any of the six versions' feature lists.

Ultimate Extras was among the elements Microsoft cited in the months leading up to the early-2007 release of Windows Vista Ultimate to distinguish it from lower-priced versions. According to Microsoft's marketing, Extras was to be "cutting-edge programs, innovative services, and unique publications" that would be regularly offered only to users of Vista's highest-priced edition.

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