Stardock has started to deliver the DeskScapes 2.0 Preview yesterday to anyone that wants to give it a whirl. Previously DeskScapes was a way for Vista Ultimate users to extend the functionality of Dreamscene, but now it works on any version of Vista without needing Dreamscene. It's a great way to have an animated desktop background on your Vista machine, oh, and did I say that it's free?

DeskScapes 2.0 Preview is shipping

Stardock is a company that is well recognized for their wide array of software applications that let users customize the appearance and functionality of Windows. Earlier this year Stardock announced the launch of a free product, called Deskscapes, who's goal was to make Windows Dreamscene even more extensible. You remember Dreamscene, right? It's the Vista Ultimate Extra Microsoft shipped which lets you designate

Microsoft was finally able to ship an update to the Ultimate Extras a few days after the deadline they had set for themselves. The new DreamScene download doesn't appear to have any different features from the preview that had been released prior to this, but it does include four new DreamScenes with it. Oh, and it doesn't work with Vista SP1 Beta.

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One of the most anticipated Vista Ultimate Extras is the DreamScene application (currently in the preview state). It lets you use videos as your desktop background, and with the free DeskScapes you can take it to a whole new level. Of course to legally get this feature in Vista you’ll need to be running

For Windows Vista Ultimate users, the “extras” that were promised have been a bit disappointing thus far. While four different extras have been released (Windows Hold’ Em, 16 Language Packs, Secure Online Kay Backup, and Windows Bitlocker Drive Preparation Tool), one of the most anticipated, DreamScene, has not yet been released in its final form.

And to make matters worse, the Ultimate Extras team has been so quiet over the

Microsoft Monday

When Microsoft released a DreamScene Preview for Vista Ultimate users, I couldn’t wait to try it out. Once I got it installed I was indeed impressed, but I still felt like I was missing out on the full capabilities of what DreamScene could really do.

Now being more than 4-months after the preview version was released, there is still

People who can afford to fork out the money for Vista Ultimate will receive what Microsoft calls the “Ultimate Extras.” These are additional features that can be downloaded through the Windows Updates to provide things like drive encryption, Texas Hold’em poker, and DreamScene.

People think that the DreamScene is cool because it lets you add movies as your desktop background. The movies continuously loop, and if they are well done they