The Registry is the Windows Achilles' Heel

I can only hope that the changes described here are still going to be in Longhorn. It's only a start... The Registry -- which appeared in Windows 3.1 with its only jobs being to link those three-letter DOS filename extensions to specific programs, and to tell Windows where OLE & DDE enabled programs were -- has become a huge monster. Actually one of the Windows' Registry's faults (probably the central fault) stems exactly from its role as the application location phonebook. This is why once you install Windows apps, you cannot move them to another disk or folder. The registry is also a contributing factor why Windows programs need elaborate installer and uninstaller programs, whereas on a Macintosh you can just copy a folder into your system to install. Uninstall is downright DOSian with just moving the application folder to the trash.