Microsoft strips email and photo apps from Windows 7

Posted at: 11:40am 24th September 2008 by Ben Hardwidge

Next version of Windows will come without the clutter of extra software as standard, although you’ll be able to download equivalent software from Windows Live

In a surprise announcement, Microsoft has said that it plans to remove a lot of standard apps from Windows 7 in order to make the new OS ‘cleaner.’ Among the apps for the chop are Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Movie Maker, which will no longer be included with the operating system as standard.

Instead, equivalent versions of the apps will be available from Microsoft’s Windows Live download service as optional free download, much like the new BETA versions of the apps that Windows Live offers today. The apps from Windows Live already contain features not found in the standard Windows Vista versions. For example, the Windows Live Windows Mail client can download software from web-email services such as Hotmail and Yahoo!, which can't be done in the version of Windows Mail that comes with Vista.

In an interview with Cnet, Windows Live general manager, Brian Hall, said that the move was made because it ‘makes it [Windows] much cleaner.’ He also added that ‘We can do things with specific partners to enable really great experiences that might be hard in Windows.’ Microsoft has previously landed itself in trouble with the anti-trust authorities by integrating software into Windows that competes with third party apps.

Cnet also says that Hall implied that Microsoft could now ‘issue new operating system releases more quickly than it has in the past,’ as the team could concentrate on the operating system, while the Windows Live team could concentrate on the extra applications. The move will also result in less confusion over different free Microsoft applications, which effectively do the same jobs.

Hands up everyone who uses Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery or Windows Movie Maker. They might be primitive tools, but they’re often useful for simple tasks. Is Microsoft making the right decision by making them optional, or should they come with Windows 7 as standard. Let us know your thoughts.