Posted on Wednesday, September 24 2008 @ 3:47 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
Microsoft decided that unlike Windows Vista, the next version of Windows will not ship with built-in applications for e-mail, photo-editing and movie making. Instead, the software giant will allow you to grab these programs from the Internet if you need them. This includes programs such as Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Movie Maker.
The software maker included Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Mail, and Windows Movie Maker as part of Vista, but later chose to offer separate downloadable Windows Live programs that essentially replaced those components with versions that could connect to online services from Microsoft and others.
Microsoft told CNET News late Monday that it has decided to remove those features entirely from Windows 7 and instead offer only the service-connected Windows Live versions as optional free downloads. Earlier on Monday, Microsoft had declined to say how it was handling things.
In a follow-up interview on Monday, Windows Live general manager Brian Hall said Microsoft made the decision to remove the tools from Windows for several reasons, including a desire to issue new operating system releases more quickly than it has in the past. The move also removes the confusion of offering and supporting two different programs that perform essentially similar functions.
"It makes it much cleaner," Hall said.
Lastly, he said, making the Windows Live tools completely separate from the operating system paves the way for Microsoft to work selectively with specific partners.
"We can do things with specific partners to enable really great experiences that might be hard in Windows," Hall said.
source: CNET
