Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 14 March 2008 12:30
Opinion and Analysis
Page 3 of 4
To start with, if I try to access any of the Ultimate Exclusives, it would appear that the UltimatePC.com site is really only geared towards US users of Windows Vista Ultimate. Thank you, Microsoft, for ignoring the fact you have a worldwide customer base.
Instead of telling me truthfully anywhere on the site that it is really designed for US users only, when I try to access ‘more information’ about any of the Ultimate Exclusives, I’m taken to a ‘Genuine Validation’ site to, yet again, prove to Microsoft that my copy of Vista Ultimate is legitimate. Why Microsoft needs to keep checking this is beyond me, but, they do.
Anyway, once we get to the Microsoft Genuine Validation page, I’m told that the site will load an Active X control to validate my system, but before it gets there, I’m immediately taken to a page that says ‘Eligibility Error – Sorry. An unexpected error has occurred. Please try again later’. The same happens if I try the alternate validation method.
Look, Microsoft could well be having problems with their site today, or their validation tool, neither of which would be surprising, as it has happened before.
But the reality is probably that the system has detected I’m not in the US, so rather than being truthful about this, I’m getting an ‘Eligibility Error’ instead. Way to go Microsoft.
At least you could explain what the 'Eligibility Error' is. Has my computer not passed validation? Am I meant to be a US citizen? Can I call someone, or do I send a message to the feedback system of UltimatePC.com? Is anyone going to email me back, or will my message be ignored and filed in the feedback section somewhere with the Windows Vista Ultimate team, who should be busy actually making new Ultimate Extras instead of ultimately fluffy websites?
The site also has information on the existing Ultimate Extras that any existing Vista Ultimate user can already download, so this is presumably only for Vista Ultimate users who haven’t bothered to check what few Vista Ultimate Extras actually exist, and naturally is effectively completely useless and even a kind of slap in the face to anyone using any other version of Windows Vista.
So, what about the actual ‘publications’ content on the UltimatePC.com site? Are they ‘unique’ as Microsoft promised, or a bit of a waste of time? Please read onto page 4.
