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.
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.