Windows 7: Most Modular Windows Ever?
Microsoft got in a whole heap of trouble with the U.S. Justice Department (which died down during the last administration) and the European Union. The beef was over the bundling of IE and other tools with Windows.
Microsoft's counter was that the integration was critical and that IE was so intertwined, it couldn't be extracted from the OS. We've looked at the issue and concluded that pulling IE from XP is possible, but it takes quite a bit of effort.
Microsoft apparently figured it all out and Windows 7 users can remove IE 8, Media Player and Media Center, Windows Search, and fax from the operating system. There are likely two motivations behind this. For one, users like the ability lean out the OS by removing bits they don't use. A bigger reason? The EU is still all over Microsoft for bundling.
Posted by Doug Barney on March 09, 2009