Microsoft makes changes to the upcoming Release Candidate (RC) version of Windows 7 that will enable users to turn off key features of the operating system, including Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media Player. Microsoft is enabling users to turn off not only these features, but Windows Search, Windows Media Center and others. Some speculate the changes are in reaction to European Commission scrutiny into Microsoft's browser bundling practices.
Microsoft has made changes to the upcoming Release Candidate version
of Windows 7 that will enable users to turn off key features of the
operating system, including Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media
Player.
The capability to turn off these features is new to the RC version,
which is expected to be released in April. This was not possible with
the beta version of the operating system that became available in
January.
Some observers speculate that this move is a reaction
to Opera Software's antitrust lawsuit lodged with the European
Commission that calls for Microsoft to untether Internet Explorer from
Windows.
In
a post on the Engineering Windows 7 blog on March 6, Jack Mayo, group program manager for the Windows 7 Documents and Printing team, wrote:
In Windows 7 we are expanding the number of features you have
control over in this regard, giving customers more control, flexibility
and choice in managing the features available in this version of
Windows. In addition to the features that were already available to
turn on or off in Windows Vista, we've added the following features to
the list in Windows 7:
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Center
Windows DVD Maker
Internet Explorer 8
Windows Search
Handwriting Recognition (through the Tablet PC Components option)
Windows Gadget Platform
Fax and Scan
XPS Viewer and Services (including the Virtual Print Driver)
In addition, Mayo said: "We want to provide choice while also making
sure we do not compromise on compatibility by removing APIs provided
for developers. We also want to strike the right balance for consumers
in providing choice and balancing compatibility with applications and
providing a consistent Windows experience."
Bryant Zadegan, a Windows enthusiast, kicked off the news of
Microsoft's plan to enable turning off features in his AeroXperience blog.
Meanwhile, Mayo said Microsoft has implemented the turn-off capability as a post-setup feature for Windows 7. Said Mayo:
Finally, we know some have suggested that this set of choices be a
"setup option." Some operating systems do provide this type of setup
experience. As we balanced feedback, the vast majority of feedback we
have received was to streamline setup and to reduce the amount of
potential complexity in getting a PC running. We chose to focus this
feature on the post-setup experience for Windows 7.
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