There is a growing consensus of opinion forming that Windows "Seven" will be "modular," the concept being that you buy the core OS first and then add to it individual "modules" with logically distinct units of functionality. There are two ways the OS could be modularized in such a fashion, the first being that it could be split into functional "roles," such as "music" or "movies" or "mail & chat." The other option, which is a bit more radical, would be to build on the "Windows Live" software that updates/replaces some of the OS components. For example, Vista's Windows Photo Gallery is replaceable with Windows Live Photo Gallery. The Live version is similar in concept, but includes greater online integration and features.

With both Windows Vista and Windows Server…