Did anyone else notice the Store icon on the start screen? I wonder if that will be the primary distribution channel for apps using the new UI. With any luck they'll sandbox apps like they do on Windows Phone 7. No more registry + dll hell.
It's also interesting that they only mentioned HTML5 + JS. Right now Silverlight is the only option for non-games on Windows Phone 7. Given how similar the UIs look, it would be a shame to be unable to share code between mobile and desktop versions of the same app.
I'm sure there will be some kind of a store for these dashboard apps. It's really not that different from a new skin on sidebar gadgets, is it? They're developed using HTML+JS and distributed through an online store. This UI looks great though and will definitely be beneficial to tablet/touchscreen computers.
There will still be registry+dll hell because the core operating system and applications will be running on the traditional windows environment in the background.
I think there was mention of how easy it will be to install/uninstall apps in the All Things D presentation earlier today. Registry+DLL hell might just die with 7.
It's also interesting that they only mentioned HTML5 + JS. Right now Silverlight is the only option for non-games on Windows Phone 7. Given how similar the UIs look, it would be a shame to be unable to share code between mobile and desktop versions of the same app.