Does Windows XP Embedded really need 10,000 Components?

Andy Allred wrote a very interesting piece in the XP Embedded Team’s blog around componentisation and whether we really need 12,000 components.

Is there a better way? Maybe it makes sense to "group" features together that don't have a lot of dependencies on other features. For example, "Instead of having several dozen components that comprise the Audio stack, why not just group them together and call it the Audio Feature Component?."

Such a strategy might work out to a couple hundred feature groups, the downside being that there will be some "footprint hit" for users who don't need every feature of a group. The upside being that you can get the system up and running faster and with higher confidence.

Andy invites your comments. Swing on over to the Embedded Team’s Blog and let them know your thoughts. https://blogs.msdn.com/embedded/archive/2006/12/04/10-000-or-200.aspx?CommentPosted=true