Windows 7 Will Be Stripped Down

Microsoft has announced that Windows 7 won't include programs for photo or movie editing or email.

From the sound of it, Microsoft is planning to make Windows 7 a lean, mean machine. The company has told CNET it won’t include built-in programs for movie editing or photo editing, or even a built in e-mail program in its new OS, which is due by January 2010.

Instead, users will have the Windows Live versions as free downloads – or it would allow Microsoft to work with specific partners on those.

"We can do things with specific partners to enable really great experiences that might be hard in Windows," said Windows Vista general manager Brian Hall.

One big impetus in not including these other programs is to allow Microsoft to get the product to market on time – and it would help avoid antitrust issues.

Microsoft has just released Wave 3 of its Windows Live programs, but no one is saying whether there’ll be a Wave 4 prior to Windows 7.