Windows 7 no Extras like ultimate edition

Remember when you purchased Windows Vista Ultimate that Microsoft promised additional free downloadable content ? Ars Technica reports that the Ultimate Extras embarrassment has been quite an issue since the launch of Vista, and while Microsoft did apologize and things started to get better in 2008, the fact remains that the company wasn't delivering as promised.

Many users went as far as saying that Ultimate was useless because Ultimate Extras weren't plentiful, but of course those who bought Ultimate didn't buy them for the extras. And Microsoft is hoping those users will make the same decision for Windows 7 Ultimate, which won't be getting the feature when it's released. Here's the quote that shows Microsoft has given up (it almost slipped through our fingers after all this Windows 7 SKU news):

Our new approach to planning and building Windows doesn't have the capacity to continue to deliver features outside the regular release cycle. 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.

Windows Ultimate won't be sold at retail, but it will be offered for sale during some promotional periods. Rumor has it that it will be $80 cheaper than Vista Ultimate, going for $320. That won't affect most users who are buying it though, as they'll probably end up getting their copy when buying a new computer from an OEM. It remains to be seen how PC makers offer it, but it will likely only be an option on their higher-end models.