If anyone is interested, i've filed a bug some time ago about this and it has been duplicated to #6594811

you mean just like cars are sold without the software installed?

I'm just now installing the software on my new camera to "learn the basics"

dont think so: Installing a OS is not learning the basics.
how to use it properly is learn the basics

Office allways did its own way in GUI widgets.

Lets look at Word 95 that hast "Microsoft" as a non-standard Text in the title bar
Or the new Open dialogue that came in some version and later was made the default in Windows.
Or hacks like (some?) Office 2003 on Win XP that made the documents of the MDI apps appear as separate "Apps" in the Task bar.

So: i wouldn't read anything into this. the ribbon is comming in Windows 7 to some apps and most likely in Windows 8 to the rest of them.

"having your personal music integrated into a title, a 'natural' gesture multitouch interface, and a single online store that sells games, media, and video.""

sure sounds like the iPhone/iPod touch with the iTunes Store, doesn't it?

I doubt that they will make a "Apple iWii"

Windows XP's Supported time is about to expire (and move to extended support where only security updates are issued)

Does this in any way change this?
Windows 7's Mainstream support will at least continue till 2014 (Release Date + 5 years) and extended support will end 2019 (+10 years), long after XP.

With XP available as "Classic" does this change anything in this aspect?

Propably not, since its not "part of Windows 7", but only an optional download.

There are some other questions: wil i need 2 AV solutions like normal VMs, or is one enough?
can Windows 7 access the files inside the XP machine? (or is it seamless like OS X's classic where no "Virtual disc" exists?)

I dont know abpout the percents, but i definetly agree that it boosts productivity!
At work i have 2x 21" Monitors and it helps a lot!
Having tons of space where i can move the windows of my IDE and have the specs open and see them too is really great.
Its still not enough space, but much better than just one display. (I still have to print some documents to have them as a "third display" on my desk.

At home i have one 24" (iMac) and one 23" Monitor and its quite nice there too.
The both two monitors.

That has an other problem:

The update check *has* to run on a sperate thread and not block the application.

just think about the user feedback when the app take ages to load (bad Internet connection, server down, whatever) because the app delays the start until the update check is done.

therefore the update check cannot be finished before the rest of the app works.

checking for a security update when the app is already running can be to late, see my other post.

So think about this scenario:

A product has a security issue tha can be exploited remotely (lets say (and this is hopefully not a real exploit, but something like this could theoretically happen)

Google earth has an issue with KMZ files (buffer overflow, whatever)
user gets a kmz file
opens it
--> exploit can do its thing.

It is now useless that Google Earth would display "there is an important security update available".

therefor: it is important to patch the apps *before* opening it.

please note: that is not specific to the google updater, but every app that only checks for updates while it runs.

I had a "smartphone" a view years ago that had pretty much everything: GPS, web browser, UMTS,...
But nothing was usable. it was expensive, slow, confusing, huge, crashed constantly and had a poor battery life.

I've switched to a "dump" phone that can do one thing: make phone calls (and Sync with my Computer)

So (for me) more features are not important. it has to have the right features and those have to work.

(and no, i wont buy an iPhone anytime soon, because its plans are way to expensive)

I just want to manage *all* Firefox plugins from within Firefox, not only those that are in my profile

Why shouldnt this be allowed?