As more and more people migrate to Windows 7, they are finding that Windows 7 is a stripped-down version of Windows. Now don't panic at that statement. It's not necessarily bad. Microsoft has eliminated much of the fluff that made Vista run more slowly. They have also eliminated many of the extra programs that made Windows Vista so large. That means that with Windows 7 you don't have to have a lot programs you don't want on your computer.
However, it also means that you must download and install the programs that you need or want. This added step is a no-brainer for the Internet savvy, but a challenge for a newbie. I wish that Microsoft would have shipped Windows 7 with a list of the available Microsoft programs along with some sort of a check box and an automatic download and installation. Well, I'm sure some ingenious third party will develop such a way to add the programs you need.

In the meantime, you can surf over to Microsoft Live Essentials at http://download.live.com to download the free programs that you want. There are some excellent programs here and you can also use many of them with Windows XP and Windows Vista. So it may be worth your while to take a look at these programs. All are free and all work well.

The available programs include:
• Mail, the Microsoft email program which is the successor to Outlook Express and Windows Vista's mail program. This program lets you access mail from several email different programs like Yahoo!Mail and Gmail. It also includes an updated version of the Calendar program that was available in previous versions of Windows.
• Messenger -- an instant messenger program that lets you chat with online friends. It also lets you share photos and send SMS messages.
• Photo Gallery -- Several essential applications that were always a part of Windows have been left out of Windows 7. The Photo Gallery is one of theses. It's a free easy to use photo manager/editor.
• Movie Maker -- is another program that used to be a part of Windows. This new version lets you put together and edit movies and slideshows and will even help you post them to the web. Although not as good as some commercially available programs like Adobe Premier Essentials, it will do the trick for simple video tasks... and it's free.
• Live Writer has a name that's a bit confusing. You may think that it is a word processing program, but in fact it is a blogging program. If you are a blogger or a wannabe blogger, take a look. It's a cool program. If you are not into blogging, take a pass on this one.
• Family Safety is the program that will help protect your kids online. Like several others in this list, this program was built into previous versions of Windows, but does not come with Windows 7. It will let you monitor and block websites, limit searches and decide who your kids can communicate with on the Web. If you have children or grandchildren who use your computer, you will want to take a look at this one.
• Microsoft Security Essentials. I don't know why, but the free Microsoft Security Essentials is in a different place at http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/ This is Microsoft's new free anti-virus and anti-spyware program. It is rated as highly as many of the anti-virus programs that you have to pay for, so it is a good deal. (Remember you should only use one antivirus program at any given time. So if you want to try this one, be sure to uninstall the antivirus program that you are currently using first.
• Windows Live Toolbar is an extra toolbar that is added to your browser. This toolbar can only be used with Internet Explorer. It gives you quick links to Bing, Microsoft's new search engine as well as links to other Microsoft Live services.

You don't have to have Window 7 to use most of these new programs. You can try them on a computer running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (32-bit edition only), Windows Vista (32-bit or 64-bit editions). The Windows Live Movie Maker and the slide show feature of Windows Live Photo Gallery are not supported on Windows XP.
Right now there is a wealth of free programs on the Internet. These Microsoft programs are some that you may want to take advantage of, especially if you are using Windows7.