Slashdot Mirror
Windows 7 Trades Email and Photo Apps For Downloadable Ones
arcticstoat writes "Microsoft has said that it plans to remove a lot of the 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 downloads, much like the new BETA versions of the apps that Windows Live offers today." Meanwhile, jammag writes that "tech pundit Mike Elgan posits that the rushed-to-market Windows 7 — due in 2010, now being beta released this October — may in fact merely be Vista with new packaging.
I rather like the idea of having an OS with as little on it as possible.
That way I can add what I see fit, much like the Server OS.
Hey it's a step in the right direction.
The greatest revenge in life is massive success.
As long as they make sure that OEMs include some. Any, doesn't matter if its Outlook, Windows Live Mail, or whatever third party or open source app you want... Else customers will not be too happy out of the box.
However, historically, with other things that were not included (like, let say, anti-virus for a while), the total trash that OEMs put on it (because they're paid to) really sucks ass, even if there are free alternatives that are really, really good.
Customers are not going to be happy...
Among the apps for the chop are Windows Mail...
Er... I guess you don't see it this way, Microsoft, but I sure as hell always thought that checking your e-mail was basic computer functionality in this day and age. But hey, what do I know?
Microsoft can talk about a "cleaner" OS all they want, but watch them change their tune when people scream about not being able to check their e-mail on a new PC.
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
That would be newsworthy!
You realize that Microsoft got in trouble for that right? Given the current climate it's okay for Apple to do it legally but if Microsoft included all the apps that Apple does then they'd be back in court the next day.
Well, web-based email has the benefit of being accessible from wherever you're at. That's a huge advantage -- when I'm visiting my family, it's nice to be able to check my email.
Plus, it's not like you can't use your favorite POP client to connect to gmail and read your mail in whatever client you like.
Cheers
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Excellent idea.
It's about the training of the consumer to accept upselling to subscription based services.
load "$",8,1
Well, if it's Vista minus the bloatware, DRM and huge resource requirements... it might be actually a decent operating system.
Interesting that Microsoft appears to be actually listening to their users over Vista. That, or they're panicking and being forced to...
Check out my sci-fi book "Lacuna" at http://goo.gl/MVxX8
I can already see Windows7 being shipped without all that useless bloatware ...
... and having it all installed again after selecting all "important" "security" updates ...
Nope, the author is a hack who is just trying to evoke anti-MS feelings to get people to read his story. Who takes statements like "I presented ____ a public challenge" seriously? It's like the group doing the data recovery challenge - there's no incentive to take the challenge, and plenty of reason not to.
Among those reasons: what happens when someone promises a feature that is canceled or modified for quality control purposes? Does it suddenly become a failure to deliver, or is it delivering a skillfully polished ecosystem? Who gets to decide? Not this hack, that's for certain.
Outlook is great unless you use IMAP. Microsoft purposely made IMAP support suck. It can't even be attributed to incompetence it sucks so bad. I mean crossing out deleted mails and not only not hiding them, but not moving them to the deleted folder? Sending sent mail to the LOCAL sent folder? No thanks.
When I recommend the Linux distribution I use, one of the things I promote is that:
By this, I mean that you can get set up and ideally have a complete working system right away. Browse the web with a strong browser, set up your email right away, view PDFs (with a fast PDF viewer), listen to music, write documents, spreadsheets, etc. Now, in practice some things don't work right away, but for that I blame general difficulty of installing any operating system (driver issues etc.) and licensing issues (goddamn MP3 license). I think installing an OS will always be a PITA, just on varying levels. Licensing is getting better with more distros offering paid legal licenses for MP3.
Anyway, what I'm getting to is that I feel a complete OS offers a solid platform on which to build. From my experience, casual users are satisfied with the included apps in a modern Linux distro save for maybe a better music player for the music buffs or better photo management for digital camera users. I think a minimal OS translates more to a Slack or Gentoo approach, which I doubt the everyday user wants. This also encourages OEMs to put their crap into EVEN MORE basic uses.
I think the association of Windows and bloat comes not from included MS apps (maybe not including Movie Maker), but instead from OEMs putting their shit on these computers. Good for Microsoft for making ANY change, but I think the real reduction in bloat happens at the installer level, not the OS producer. Let me know when a pig sprouts wings and the OEMs start putting less shit on their builds.
Not only did this ship with XP, as others have noted, but you couldn't remove it.
When I found it on a work computer I had inherited, I tried to remove it. Uninstall? Not listed. Windows Setup? Not listed. Ok, Delete the directory. Success! Five minutes later when I was looking for other things to clear off, I found the directory had been recreated in C:\Program Files\, complete with files! I have no idea where they came from, either, as the computer was not on the network and did not have the Windows CD in (or the install files on the hard drive).
IIRC, when Movie Maker 2 was available on the Windows Update site, there was a note that you wouldn't be able to uninstall it.
End of line..
Okay - jokes over. Everyone can go now.
Seriously - why are we making this so difficult?
We have Windows like this:
Windows 3 (pre-9x?)
Windows 3.11 for Workgroups (NT3)
Windows NT (NT4)
Windows 95 (Win9x)
Windows 98 (Win9x - 95 with actual USB support)
Windows ME (Win9x - 98, but broken out of the box)
Windows 2000 (NT5)
Windows XP (NT5 - 2000 but with Fisher-Price lickable interface)
Windows Vista (NT6)
So - that brings us to Windows 7, presumably NT7. What we're really speculating is that despite the labelling, Windows 7 is actually still NT6, but possibly the latest version of ME. Since 98, you notice a trend?
98, ME (9x)
2000, XP (NT5)
Vista, ? (NT6)
? (NT7)
Looks to me like he's onto something.
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
Comparing Lotus Notes to Mail.app is like comparing a multitool to a pocket knife. Yes, Notes is insanely bloated, but it's mail, groupware, an office suite, and app framework all rolled together.
"I think an etch-a-sketch with an ethernet port would beat IE7 in web standards compliance."
> In other words, place an arbitrary and unnecessary choice barrier between the user and the Internet
Great bit of Newspeak there.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
What planet are you from? The EU Commission's primary arguments were: 1) Bundled Media player hurts competition and 2) the monopoly of Windows on the desktop requires full documentation of proprietary server protocols, regardless of server market share.
In other words, bundling and monopoly position are precisely why they've been prosecuted recently!
Oh, the irony. You do realize you just summarized Microsoft's losing 1998 argument about IE, right?
Don't forget Envy of Linux, Lust of Apple, and Greed of Money.
Why would Microsoft be envious of Linux? What honest advantages does Linux have over Windows? Maybe the fact that it doesn't get viruses or spyware?
They're making a lot of money off of Windows' malware issues. OneCare, their own service, costs $60 yearly for three computers.
Maybe the open-sourcedness of the OS? Why would they?
The fact that it's slowly taking away users from them? Apple's already doing that, and at a much faster pace, so technically shouldn't it be Envy of Apple?
Hell, Windows itself is optional.
Other than this text, there is no discernible information contained in this sig.
When 2 years from now, RAM, CPU Speed and Hard Drive space are cheaper and more plentiful - does it really matter? As long as Windows/Apple/Linux don't grow FASTER than technology increases, it's a moot point.
And honestly... I don't think Vista did that. The problem with Vista was people tried to use current software on 6+ year old computers. I see Vista computers sold all the time, from top-of-the-line to bargain bin e-machines, that run Vista fine.
granted, Vista was a botched launch to say the least (too much time between releases, UAC, not enough time for vendors to make stable drivers, not enough/buggy legacy support, etc)... but honestly it's no better or worse than any of the competing systems.
*nix isn't polished/consistent enough for the masses, apple is more form over function (with the exception of video/photo editing) and more closed than windows (example: iPod app store)
I wouldn't consider myself a Windows fanboi... but I don't see myself switching to the competition any time soon
In two years time I'll still have the computer I bought two years ago, so yes it does matter...
We don't believe in radical loony monotheistic religions from the middle east -- we're Christians.