There's been a lot of talk over the last few days about new features that will be included in Windows 7. There will be a new taskbar, improved window behavior, and less annoying User Account Control prompts. But there are a few things that won't be included in Windows 7 that had been part of past versions of the operating system.

Microsoft will stop bundling Windows Movie Maker, Windows Mail, and Windows Photo Gallery with the operating system. Those applications will still be available as free downloads, but you won't have them out of the box. Instead they'll be part of the new Windows Live suite of desktop applications which we first looked at in October.

To be honest, it would probably make more sense to keep bundling these applications with Windows. After all, when you install OS X, or most Linux distributions you get a mail application and some sort of photo management software. But Apple and Linux distributors haven't faced the same kind of anti-trust pressures that Microsoft has in the past. While Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player will still be bundled with Windows 7, it's likely that the company is avoiding a whole batch of lawsuits by offering free downloads of other software.

via ZDNet