New Windows Vista Ultimate Extras

I seem to have miised this one the other day.

Despite no announcement being made on UltimatePC.com, Microsoft have released a new sound scheme and a content pack for Windows DreamScene as part of its Windows Vista Ultimate Extras offerings for customers who purchased the Ultimate edition of Vista.
After installing the sound pack customers get Ultimate Extras Pearl and Glass sound schemes and additional Windows DreamScene Content.
For those who have been waiting for Ultimate Extras perhaps this is a sign that more is to come from the software giant.
Click to expand...

Source:- Neowin.net - Microsoft Launches New Windows Vista Ultimate Extras
 
Click to expand...
OK I have just tried the new sound schemes and TBH the are crap, it must of taken somebody a full 10mins to make this release.

I would try the dreamscene, but it is not supported on my setup as I'm running multiple monitors with multiple cards.....So much for "Ultimate".
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State
    Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD
    HP CP1515n Color Laser
    Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer
    Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
    APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
z3r010: I run multiple monitors. I run dreamscene. You should have no problems.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    My Ever Changing Whim!
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad 9650
    Motherboard
    Intel DQ35JO
    Memory
    6GB Corsair DDR2 800
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS 9800GT Ultimate
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19 inch Sceptre 19 inch Acer
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    1 320GB Seagate SATA
    1 250GB Western Digital SATA
    1 200GB Maxtor SATA
    2x160GB Western Digitals SATA
    1 320GB Seagate External
    1 120GB Western Digital External
    1 80GB Westen Digital External
    1 4GB Crucial Flash Drive for Ready Boost
    PSU
    600watt Fortron Source
    Case
    Antec
    Cooling
    Fresh Air
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonamic 4000
    Mouse
    Razer Diamondback
    Other Info
    My main rig runs Vista Ultimate or Server 2008. Depending on which Acronis image I decide to load.
It does not support 4 monitors on two cards :(
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State
    Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD
    HP CP1515n Color Laser
    Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer
    Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
    APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
That was the last download I was able to download. Or last time I was able to access windows update. I started not to do it since I have all my windows sounds turned off but decided what the heck. I still haven't used any of the Ultimate features or the Windows Media Center, even though I downloaded all the stuff that's come out for them, well all the stuff til yesterday when for unmentionable reasons my new Vista Ultimate got corrupted.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core2Quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    nForce 790i Ultra SLI(evga)
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3 1333MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 e-GeForce 9800GX2(SLI mode)
    Hard Drives
    WD1500AHFD
    (Raptor 150 GB 10,000 RPM)
z3r010 said:
OK I have just tried the new sound schemes and TBH the are crap, it must of taken somebody a full 10mins to make this release.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The new sound schemes are not worthy of the "Ultimate" name. There are plenty of other free sound schemes out there that are much better.

I don't use Dreamscene so I can't comment on that.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    FRION
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-M57SLI-S4
    Memory
    CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (4 x 1GB) DDR2 800 4-4-4-12
    Graphics Card(s)
    POWERCOLOR Radeon HD 4870
    Sound Card
    HT OMEGA Striker
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    WD Caviar 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache x2 (RAID 0)
    PSU
    Silverstone Decathlon DA650
    Case
    Lian-Li V600B
    Cooling
    2x Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Internet Speed
    10Mbit Cable
Usually i rip my rented dvd's to disk to get rid of the annoying 'extra's'. I rip them to wmv. One day i thought, he why not run a movie as dream? Having installed deskscapes i found that (on my box at least) this way the film played full screen 1080p smoothly on both monitors attached at the same time with on average half the processorcycle consumption of the regular players (tried them all, blaze, windvd, fantasydvd, cool dvd, wound up buying powerdvd) putting out on one monitor.
Sound is ouput over directsound, giving me full control over the 6.1 digital soundscheme.
All it needs is a few simple controls and you have a very powerfull movieplayer indeed.

Tried contacting stardock, but they ignore any suggestion. What is the feeling here? Seems like a good idea?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    amd phenom 9950 BE
    Motherboard
    M2A-VM HDMI
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce 8600 GTS
    Monitor(s) Displays
    dual 19" HD monitors
    Hard Drives
    2 x wd 500 sata
    1 x Seagate 500 sata
    1 x Seagate 1000 sata
    1 wd 500 ide
    1 raptor 80 gb
    1 usb maxtor 160 gb
    Cooling
    standard
    Keyboard
    wireless MS
    Mouse
    wirelss MS laser 6000
    Internet Speed
    18 mb according to my ISP :)
Yup, I run movies in the desktop background all the time, sometimes just to listen to while I'm working. Of course if I'm doing processor-intensive tasks, playing HD video isn't really feasible since that eats up CPU cycles like popcorn, even on my dual-core. Regular TV-quality is doable.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    FRION
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-M57SLI-S4
    Memory
    CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (4 x 1GB) DDR2 800 4-4-4-12
    Graphics Card(s)
    POWERCOLOR Radeon HD 4870
    Sound Card
    HT OMEGA Striker
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    WD Caviar 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache x2 (RAID 0)
    PSU
    Silverstone Decathlon DA650
    Case
    Lian-Li V600B
    Cooling
    2x Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Internet Speed
    10Mbit Cable
soldatz said:
playing HD video isn't really feasible since that eats up CPU cycles like popcorn, even on my dual-core. Regular TV-quality is doable.
Click to expand...

really? which graphics card do you run? The reason i was amazed is that when i run hdvideo with a regular player it eats cycles like corned pop and can only output to the primary, but using the dream it nearly halves and outputs to all monitors. Was wondering if stardock has some inside info from ms the others dont, and if they do why not just add a few simple controls and make deskscapes a basic movieplayer. Dont dont seemto want to respond to much was thinking to build up a fanbase to pressure them a bit
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    amd phenom 9950 BE
    Motherboard
    M2A-VM HDMI
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce 8600 GTS
    Monitor(s) Displays
    dual 19" HD monitors
    Hard Drives
    2 x wd 500 sata
    1 x Seagate 500 sata
    1 x Seagate 1000 sata
    1 wd 500 ide
    1 raptor 80 gb
    1 usb maxtor 160 gb
    Cooling
    standard
    Keyboard
    wireless MS
    Mouse
    wirelss MS laser 6000
    Internet Speed
    18 mb according to my ISP :)
soldatz said:
Yup, I run movies in the desktop background all the time, sometimes just to listen to while I'm working. Of course if I'm doing processor-intensive tasks, playing HD video isn't really feasible since that eats up CPU cycles like popcorn, even on my dual-core. Regular TV-quality is doable.
Click to expand...


You must be using WMV files. That uses alot of cpu to decode, you need to watch MPEG2-MPEG4 video's that will lower the cpu usage.

If you use WMV video's for dreamscene it will use alot of cpu so try to convert or find MPEG only. When i use WMV video's for dreamscene for say 1080 im using 20% cpu on both cores. If i use MPEG video's im using only 10% on one core

Btw i have a 8800GTS 640m, the cpu usage is only cut down if you use MPEG video's as i said before it doesnt matter what video card you have as long as its a 6800 or higher or equivalent. They only take the cpu load if there MPEG video's or puredvd or similer.

Sadly, nvidia only includes the codec's that enable this if you buy them lol :P
 

My Computer

System One

you use WMV video's for dreamscene it will use alot of cpu so try to convert or find MPEG only. When i use WMV video's for dreamscene for say 1080 im using 20% cpu on both cores. If i use MPEG video's im using only 10% on one core

[/QUOTE]

after having installed deskscapes 2 it has taken wmv as file ext for dreamscenes. I had a hd1080 as mkv renamed as wmv with matroska codes installed(i am legend, beautifull opening shot) and wanted to watch clicked it without thinking. Was very surprised to suddenly watch the movie on my 2 monitors one in 1440/900 the other 1280/1024 running perfectly clean. I looked at cpu..... 3% on 4cores. I ran it in powerdvd also fullscreen. Only on primary monitor, cpu.... 12% on 4cores. i have geforce 8600 gts overclocked lightly to 715 mhz.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    amd phenom 9950 BE
    Motherboard
    M2A-VM HDMI
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce 8600 GTS
    Monitor(s) Displays
    dual 19" HD monitors
    Hard Drives
    2 x wd 500 sata
    1 x Seagate 500 sata
    1 x Seagate 1000 sata
    1 wd 500 ide
    1 raptor 80 gb
    1 usb maxtor 160 gb
    Cooling
    standard
    Keyboard
    wireless MS
    Mouse
    wirelss MS laser 6000
    Internet Speed
    18 mb according to my ISP :)
I have to agree the sound pack is less than stellar... the sounds are strained and rough to say the least... Have to say that the "extras" promised haven't lived up to their name.. Perhaps the "extras" was only referring to the EXTRA money paid for the OS...
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Athlon 3700+ 2.2
    Motherboard
    Abit AN8 32x
    Memory
    3gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    Dual SLI GForce 6800 GS
    Hard Drives
    2 SATA 320 gig Barracuda drives running XP Pro and Vista Ultimate each on its own drive
Lid8nhx said:
I have to agree the sound pack is less than stellar... the sounds are strained and rough to say the least... Have to say that the "extras" promised haven't lived up to their name.. Perhaps the "extras" was only referring to the EXTRA money paid for the OS...
Click to expand...

I think you're right. However, I don't feel too bad since I was able to get my copy from a friend of a friend at the MS employee store :cool:
 

My Computer

System One

lol Donovan I really doubt that story :p There is no employee store but its ok...

I do agree the Extras features are just :sick:

Steven

Donovan said:
Lid8nhx said:
I have to agree the sound pack is less than stellar... the sounds are strained and rough to say the least... Have to say that the "extras" promised haven't lived up to their name.. Perhaps the "extras" was only referring to the EXTRA money paid for the OS...
Click to expand...

I think you're right. However, I don't feel too bad since I was able to get my copy from a friend of a friend at the MS employee store :cool:
Click to expand...
 

My Computer

System One

dmex said:
lol Donovan I really doubt that story :p There is no employee store but its ok...

I do agree the Extras features are just :sick:

Steven
Click to expand...

Whatever they have for the MS employees, that's where it came from- one of my coworkers here has some kind of in. Got it last summer for a great price, the unfortunate part of it, they deface the cool package with an obnoxious sticker :(

Back on topic though, anyone know when we can expect some new Ultimate Extras??
 

My Computer

System One

No idea, Microsoft have yet to release any details about any extras planned at any time in the future...

I think its all just a ploy to get people to buy Ultimate more than actually releasing any Ultimate Extras...

Donovan said:
Back on topic though, anyone know when we can expect some new Ultimate Extras??
Click to expand...
 

My Computer

System One

after having installed deskscapes 2 it has taken wmv as file ext for dreamscenes. I had a hd1080 as mkv renamed as wmv with matroska codes installed(i am legend, beautifull opening shot) and wanted to watch clicked it without thinking. Was very surprised to suddenly watch the movie on my 2 monitors one in 1440/900 the other 1280/1024 running perfectly clean. I looked at cpu..... 3% on 4cores. I ran it in powerdvd also fullscreen. Only on primary monitor, cpu.... 12% on 4cores. i have geforce 8600 gts overclocked lightly to 715 mhz.
Click to expand...
12% on 4 cores lol, thats 10-20-30-40% cpu usage.

I have 2 cores 20% on each with HD1080 using WMV. Your trying to disprove what i said only made you sound stupid sorry...

Also diff video's take diff usage. For example if i watch the green video on dreamscene it uses only 3% cpu. If i watch the waterall it uses 10% Big diff ?

Its a proven fact WMV uses more cpu then MPEG2.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

My Computer

System One

yeah that must be it, stupid me. never guessed to play the same FULL LENGTH HD MOVIE in both to see the difference. I bow graciously to your superior knowledge but forgive since i am so dense as to stick to real time observed results. Which lets me display a FULL LENGTH HD MOVIE on 2 monitors at once using less cpu as the same FULL LENGTH HD MOVIE using a software player putting out on 1 monitor. Lucky i am just to stupid to realise it doesn't work :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    amd phenom 9950 BE
    Motherboard
    M2A-VM HDMI
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce 8600 GTS
    Monitor(s) Displays
    dual 19" HD monitors
    Hard Drives
    2 x wd 500 sata
    1 x Seagate 500 sata
    1 x Seagate 1000 sata
    1 wd 500 ide
    1 raptor 80 gb
    1 usb maxtor 160 gb
    Cooling
    standard
    Keyboard
    wireless MS
    Mouse
    wirelss MS laser 6000
    Internet Speed
    18 mb according to my ISP :)
Just out of curiosity, how do you get the movies playable by Dreamscene in Vista Ultimate 64bit? I have been using Vista for a long while now but have yet to explore how to *make* .dreams, though I have downloaded and installed the required software (Deskscapes and DreamScene).

I have loads of video that I want to convert, such as the first 26 episodes of Eureka 7 (Anime) that I would love to have playing in the background as I work on my dual monitor system powered by a single 8800GTS KO 512MB card.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
    Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
    Memory
    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
    Screen Resolution
    2 * 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
    Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD (User Tree)
    2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II Mech. HD
    Seagate ST1500DL001-9VT15L Barracuda 7200.12 1.5 TB S
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TX TR2 850W 80+ Bronze Semi-Mod ATX
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 (CPU, dual 140 mm fans on radiator) + Air (2 *
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (gen 2)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared)
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Lightspeed Gigabit duplex
  • Operating System
    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
    CPU
    AMD A6-5350M APU
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon HD (Embedded)
    Sound Card
    Conextant 20671 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Lenovo 15" Matte
    Screen Resolution
    1680 * 1050
    Hard Drives
    INTEL Cherryvill 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SSD
    PSU
    Lenovo
    Case
    Lenovo
    Cooling
    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top