Is Windows 7 a Trojan Google Killer?

Microsoft's decision to strip Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery, and Windows Movie Maker from Windows 7 may seem an odd move at first. But its purpose is clear: Get people to download the Windows Live equivalent applications, and in that way combat Google.

Stripping Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery, and Windows Movie Maker from Windows is a fairly cynical move. Vista isn't full of particularly compelling applications --- its backup software, for example, has to rate among the worst ever created --- and taking away these three will cause Windows users pain. Windows Movie Maker is an excellent application, worthy of being standalone, and Windows Photo Gallery is elegant, well-done and useful. I'm not that big a fan of Windows Mail, but it's certainly useful, and with a very big installed base. Expect users to howl in protest.

Windows 7 users will be able to get Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery, and Windows Movie Maker from Microsoft's Windows Live download service for free. Microsoft claims it's doing things this way to make for a "cleaner" operating system. But there's plenty of junk you can strip out of Vista with no one missing it -- do you know anyone who uses People Near Me or Windows Meeting Space, for example? And I don't know very many people who would cry real tears if User Account Control were to go.

Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Photo Gallery are all very good applications, and widely used. The plan seems to be to get people to head over to Windows Live to download them, and then figure out a way to get those people to use other Windows Live services, such as Search. It's a new variant on bait-and-switch.

It's not going to work, though. The best way Microsoft can combat Google is to build better search, better Live services, and give people online access to software such as Microsoft Office. Stripping useful software out of Windows isn't the way to win the war.

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