I wouldn't say that
Microsoft is adding powerful features, they are just adding
marketable features. They sit people who have never touched a computer before down at a computer and have them check
email. When they ask "What is this
attachment stuff?", the
MS researcher says "
Eureka! What if we have it so that you can just click to open the
attachments!". When someone else asks "What was my password again?" another researcher says "Hey - how about if we remember everyone's passwords for them?". While these things add power to some extent, the more they "
dumb down" their software, the more power they might eventually take away in the interest of dumbing it down.
The real problem is that Microsoft is more concerned with adding features that they can market easily than anything else (including security). They are going to sell more copies of Outlook if they say "We will remember all of your complex passwords!" rather than "Improved Visual Basic security!". (although even that is slightly changing as virii and such are so prevalent - people are now starting to demand more security)