The idea behind hybrid graphics is a sound and appealling one: Take the cheap, low-power integrated graphics found in every PC and enhance them with a discrete graphics chip, letting the integrated chip do the work when GPU power needs are minimal, and having the discrete card kick in during gaming or HD video playback. All the work to switch dynamically between the two chips would be done in the background, with no interference required by the user.

Alternately, you could use both chips together to increase performance over the capabilities of either chip on its own. (ATI has some helpful data on hybrid graphics here; as well, a few hybrid systems are on the market now.)

It all sounds good in theory, and it's especially been posited as a major way to add power to laptop computers without sacrificing battery life, since the high-power GPU would be turned off most of the time.

But Microsoft is now putting the hurt on hybrid's prospects: The company is said to be bearish on the technology and has gone so far as to label hybrid graphics "unstable." A serious blow will come with the release of Windows 7, which the company has now said will not include native support for hybrid graphics and even goes so far as to say it would "strongly discourage system manufacturers from shipping such systems," according to Custom PC.

Users will likely still be able to run hybrid systems under Windows 7, but third-party drivers and added software will be required, as it is today. Given that graphics drivers have been implicated for causing a vast proportion of the crashes on Windows machines, the idea of attempting to end-run Microsoft and support hybrid graphics without its aid could be a dicey one that ends up costing users much more in delays caused by crashes than any performance gains it might offer.

What's really happening here? My hunch is that Microsoft, already pressed for time in allegedly trying to hustle Windows 7 out for a holiday 2009 release, is already jettisoning features from the OS, particularly those that have only modest appeal, yet will require a whole lot of work to implement. (UPDATE: Microsoft writes to say its official release timeline hasn't changed, which would put Windows 7 in 2010.)