There are some fairly annoyed people over on Channel 9, after their Windows Vista Ultimate Extras screen changed to lower expectations of what they could expect.

I've just run Windows Update on my Vista Ultimate notebook and the screen doesn't seem to have changed. Then again, there hasn't been anything via Ultimate Extras since DreamScene, which didn't strike me as a must have extra anyway. I get distracted easily enough as it is, and I'm not keen on anything that maxes out my computer.

Even if it is well behaved and lets other software have a look in when they need it, it's still drawing more power, and I get worried about how hot the power supply gets.

I think it's going to get harder for Microsoft to push Ultimate if this is supposed to be a major selling point. Compared to Home Premium, there is only the Complete Backup and Restore, and BitLocker Drive Encryption. The Backup is an important extra, but it's not as if there are alternatives that cost less than the difference between Premium and Ultimate. The same applies to encryption, and I'm not sure how many home users are interested in that.