Jack Mayo, group manager for the Documents and Printing team, who also worked on Internet Explorer 8, wrote in a blogpost that the Turning Windows Features On or Off has a long history that dates back to the 31-bit code base, but Windows 7 will have an improved list, in the light of the needs of the Windows platform, and the user feedback.

 

If users choose to deselect a feature from the available list, the files (binaries and data) will not be loaded by the operating system, Mayo explained. But the files are also staged so they can be added back to the operating system.

 

 This comes as a surprising decision from Microsoft, but considering the criticism received in the past months, from the European Union and competitor browsers, this might seem like a way to settle the deal (although I don’t believe things will end here).

 

The European Union has had a previous discussion with Microsoft about another bundle, the Windows – Windows Media Player one, and that had been settled by not offering it on some versions of the operating systems.

 

The other dispute, regarding the Internet Explorer – Windows bundle, might also be settled, perhaps even easier for Microsoft, but only time will tell if this strategy will work. After all, we don’t expect to  see Windows 7 earlier than next year.