14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft doesn't want end users doing to Windows Vista what it is doing to the core of Windows 7. In the second half of 2007, Microsoft Distinguished Engineer Eric Traut was featured in a presentation of Windows 7. Well, not the entire operating system, but just its core taken down to a minimal footprint. Traut explained at the time, and Mark Russinovich, Microsoft Technical Fellow, also addressed the subject later on, that the Redmond company was essentially hammering away at the core of Windows in order to strip down the kernel of all dependencies and produce MinWin, the smallest possible Windows core capable of running as a standalone operating system.
MinWin "is the core of Windows 7. It is a collection of components that we've taken out. A lot of people think of Windows as this really large, bloated operating system, that's maybe a fair characterization, I could admit. It is large, it contains a lot of stuff in it, but at its core, the kernel and the components that make up the very core of the operating system, actually its pretty streamlined," Traut stated at the time, demonstrating the 25 MB large MinWin kernel on just 40 MB Ram, and adding that Microsoft was aiming to make it a lot smaller.
This is of course an integral part of a new Microsoft development strategy for the Windows operating system, that is focused on building a modular platform. But while the Redmond company is working to strip down Windows 7 to its smallest footprint, end users have the possibility to do the same with Windows Vista. vLite - Vista Lite is a free tool that enables end users to customize the operating system before installing it. Via vLite, users can integrate hotfixes, language packs and drivers, but also perform component removal, unattended setup, tweaks of the operating system. And even go as far as to split or merge Vista installation CDs and creating ISO and burning bootable CD/DVD.
"Windows Vista from Microsoft takes a lot of resources, we all know that. vLite provides you with an easy removal of the unwanted components in order to make Vista run faster and to your liking. This tool doesn't use any kind of hacking, all files and registry entries are protected as they would be if you install the unedited version only with the changes you select. It configures the installation directly before the installation, meaning you'll have to remake the ISO and reinstall it. This method is much cleaner, not to mention easier and more logical than doing it after installation on every reinstall," reads a fragment of the tool's description.
But Microsoft is not happy with the tool designed to tamper with the integrity of Windows Vista. The Redmond company has revealed that it is not recommending any tools setup to strip applications from Vista ahead of the operating system's deployment. In this regard, Microsoft cautioned users that stripping down components from the operating system could result in experiencing problems with integrating updates or service packs.