• Windows 7 Wallpapers
• Vista Wallpapers
• Windows Wallpapers

Since then, I’ve gotten more than a few reader questions about Windows 7 E — and have come up with a few of my own — and have put them to Microsoft for answers. Here are a few more tidbits about what users and developers can expect from that version of Windows 7, slated to be commercially available on October 22. All of these answers were provided to me via a Microsoft spokesperson.

Q: Is Internet Explorer (IE) really completely gone from Windows with Windows 7 E?

A: No. Microsoft has removed the Web access points provided by IE 8. But the Trident rendering engine is still part of the operating system, as is the HTTP stack and other “core” elements upon which other pieces of the operating system have been built. (I don’t have a full list of what’s in and what’s out from an IE perspective. I’m not sure when and if Microsoft plans to make such a list available.)

Q: According to Microsoft’s official statement on its Web site, Microsoft is claiming applications designed for Windows will run just as well on Win 7 E as on plain old Windows 7. But don’t a number of apps, especially custom/business applications, assume IE is “there”? What happens to these knds of apps if IE isn’t there?

A: The fact that the HTTP stack, rendering engine and other core pieces are all there. That’s what enables everything else to keep on running. You basically just don’t have the executable to be browsing the web with IE.

Q: As a software manufacturer, it is critical for our company to continue having CHM (help file) support built in the OS for our technical documentation. Is that guaranteed?”