Windows 7 Kill Switch For IE Confirmed — For More Apps, Too

CWmike writes "Microsoft has confirmed that users will be able to remove its IE8 browser, as well as several other integrated applications, from Windows 7. Jack Mayo, a group program manager on the Windows team, listed in a blog post the applications that can be switched off. They include Internet Explorer 8, Fax and Scan, handwriting recognition, Windows DVD Maker, Windows Gadget Platform, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, Windows Search, and XPS Viewer and Services. He explained that the files associated with those applications and features are not actually deleted from the hard drive. The public beta of Windows 7 does not include the ability to 'kill' said apps. But a pirated copy of Windows 7 Build 7048 includes the new removal options, and has been leaked on the Internet." (We mentioned the reported ability to turn off IE8 yesterday as well.)

Comments

Why not?

[John Hasler]

> He explained that the files associated with those applications and features are not
> actually deleted from the hard drive.

Why not?

Re:Why not?

[qoncept]

The article also mentions they can be reinstalled/reenabled without the installation disk. My guess is that genuinely is the reason. I remember Windows 95 randomly asking me to insert the installation disc when I was updating drivers or installing non-MS software, which was ridiculous.

Of course, its also possible the libraries are still being used (and loaded, and still eating up resources) for other things.

Re:Why not?

[Anonymous Coward]

It is the nightmare called windows side by side install.

So you uncheck the box it is 'uninstalled'.
Later on you decide 'wait a second I did want that' and check it back.

Now instead of popping the disk back in. It is magically there again.

Any application can take advantage/disadvantage of this. Basically you install it into the winsxs dir and it pretty much stays forever.

The only resource that will be consumed is disk space.

For example in vista telnet is not 'on the box by default' you go check the box and it installs it into the system32 dir. Where did it get that? The network was off, and i put no disk in. It did a hard link to the real file that lives in the winsxs dir. You can get this same sort of thing in linux using the ln. In windows not so easy but it can be done.

Re:Why not?

[Captain Spam]

The only alternative here is for Mozilla or another OS browser to reimplement mshtml.dll from scratch - a daunting task of questionable logic.

"Daunting" puts it lightly, apparently. WINE, for instance, attempts to reimplement mshtml.dll via the Gecko engine for all the things that use it for HTML rendering. Like, say, Steam. To date, I still don't think it's possible to complete a purchase or demo download from start to finish entirely within the Steam client under WINE/Crossover. You still need to start the purchase externally, enter Steam, and finish it there because they haven't fully reimplemented all the calls properly.

So, yes, it has been tried, and it isn't quite perfect yet.

Re:Why not?

[Chyeld]

Yes, they renamed the 'uninstall' process to 'kill switch' and repeated the same old tired BS about how this one really does turn it off. Really. Trust us.

Be nice if instead, they actually wrote a real API for these items so you could just drop in your replacement DLLs for the programs you actually wanted to drive the show and let people do things like 'integrate' Gecko into the shell.

Re:Why not?

[Ethanol-fueled]

Be nice if instead, they...let people do things like 'integrate' Gecko into the shell.

Integration of a browser into their shell is what caused this problem in the first place. I don't understand why that's necessary outside of thin-client and kiosk applications.

Re:Why not?

[Chyeld]

Incorrect. Microsoft can't uninstall the RENDERING engine because they've done their damnest to hook it into everything in the system while obscuring how it's done to ensure no one can come along and rip it out and replace it.

My suggestion was, given they weren't suppose to do that and even got spanked for doing it, maybe they should stop trying to pull this crap and simply publish the API's that their rendering engine implements. And by publish, I don't mean the typical Microsoft BS of dumping out a specification that even they can't implement, but an actual honest to goodness "this does that, that does this" document.

If they did that, then regardless of the 'advisability' of the integration in the first place, you'd at least have the opportunity to replace the rendering engine with your own.

Re:Kill switch for DRM

[RzUpAnmsCwrds]

I plan to buy a new LCD and I will choose something with DVI instead of HDMI just because DRM.

You can implement HDCP (DRM used with HDMI) on DVI, and most new monitors with DVI do implement HDCP.

It's also possible to implement HDMI without HDCP, but it's exceedingly rare.

FYI, the DRM features of Vista/7 only seem to come into play when:
- Playing back DVDs with a "legit" DVD player (e.g. PowerDVD). VLC doesn't care about the DRM.
- Playing back Blu-ray discs (without a program such as AnyDVD HD)
- Playing back DRM-enabled Windows Media or Zune files

Basically, Vista DRM allows programs to query the audio/video devices and determine whether or not HDCP is enabled and whether or not unsigned drivers are being used. One easy way to "disable" the DRM features in Vista is to simply enable test mode (which allows unsigned drivers to be loaded). This, of course, will prevent WM-DRM, Blu-ray, and DVD playback - unless you use measures (such as VLC or AnyDVD) to circumvent the DRM.

Eu says no.

[unity100]

and you will have to stick by it. what you are doing now is like injecting a person with a heroine syringe, then saying that they can turn it off if they want. not that any of your apps are heroine grade addictive, but you get the idea.

push your product through monopoly position first, then give the 'option' to switch them off (no way in hell remove). that's not enough. sell your o/s separately like every other business does in their fields.

Wrong

[Anonymous Coward]

Integration of THEIR browser into THEIR OS is what caused the problem.

MS used to have an API to write to that you could plug your own HTML renderer into Windows and completely replace the rendering of ALL HTML.

Which, if you used a TTS capable HTML renderer, you're able to "read" all system help files.

Dropped when Netscrape was killed