Have more features of Microsoft Vista been removed than we’ll actually see delivered?

Microsoft revealed today that it will not support EFI booting for Windows Vista on its launch. The news will be a shock for owners of Intel Macs who had hoped they would be able to dual-boot between Windows Vista and OS X. Intel Macs only support booting via EFI.

The Wikipedia article has a list of features already removed:

* WinFS (short for Windows File Storage Foundation) is a relational database layer built on top of NTFS, and is loosely based on SQL Server 2005. In August 2004, Microsoft announced that WinFS would not be included in Windows Vista. This was due to time constraints in developing the technology; Microsoft will probably release WinFS in 2007 as an update. Microsoft has been working on this technology since the mid 1990s.
* Due to scheduling issues, the Windows Command Shell (MSH), code-named Monad will not be included in Windows Vista. However, it will likely be available for download by the time Vista is available.
* Owing to significant difficulties in getting third-party developers to support the system (particularily due to the lack of support for writing for the Trusted Operating Root using .NET managed code), the Next-Generation Secure Computing Base architecture was abandoned for Windows Vista.[5] Some aspects of the NGSCB initiative, such as support for Trusted Platform Module chips, are still present, though its role is now limited to being a provider of cryptographic functions.
* Support for Intel’s Extensible Firmware Interface was originally slated to be included with Vista, but has been removed due to what Microsoft has described as a lack of a lack of support on desktop computers. EFI support is still slated for Windows Server “Longhorn”.[6]

I honestly can’t see the point in Vista. I think Microsoft have made the switch from EFi to BIOS for two reasons:

- They now have all the old PC market to aim at, all those old PCs with a BIOS, not just the newly adopted EFI. This will mean Microsoft will get a lot of quick sales, especially in the corporate world, which they wouldn’t otherwise have got.

- This cripples the growing Mac/Intel switcher movement. Vista won’t dual boot on the new Intel Macs natively. It’s going to require somewhat dodgy hacks now.

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