Personally, I'd rather the OS not lose features when a new release comes out, but given the trouble MS has had in the past with anti-trust lawsuits, I can understand why they would play it safe when it comes to non-core functionality and try and push more of their 'add-on' goodness into their Windows Live package (which also includes Windows Live Writer, which I'm using right now and which rocks!). You can download the Windows Live Photo Gallery at and the good news is that it actually adds a few new features beyond what the Vista Windows Photo Viewer had (like Black and White Effects, Straighten Photo, and more). Well it turns out Microsoft has pulled the functionality from the built-in Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 7 and moved it to the Windows Live Photo Gallery application.
XP (yes, there were things improved in Vista over XP). Simple things that Vista included in the Windows Photo Viewer that was one of the things I loved about Vista vs.
And of course, a few of them need cropped, or red eye fixed, etc. I'm using it now on my new primary laptop computer, and going through pictures getting ready for the holidays.
