First, you specifically said: "Try finding Add/Remove Programs for example." That apparently meant you had trouble finding it, or you thought someone would. Sorry I misinterpreted that.
No, novices don't always know what it is they are doing.
Yes, I am a pro, but I rearely use MSCONFIG. I uninstall the programs instead of trying to disable them, or direclty remove them from Startup. REAL pros know that many of these programs will simply re-enable themselves. If you want to keep a program, many also have a setting that ASKS whether the program should start with Windows. That's a free tip for you. Do your customers a favor and learn a little about stuff like this.
And, by the way, Mr. Pro, that area is called the System Tray. Real Pros know that, too. Real Pros who have spent time with Vista before thier customers got it (ahem) also know that the RUN command or MSCONFIG is no longer needed for this. And, you also stated, for the record: "you can't easily remove Icons from programs". You goofball, you weren't removing an icon from a program, you were taking a very newbie approach to stopping a program from starting up. BIG difference.
The only people making money off pre-installs such as McAfee, Napster, Symantec, and Real Player are the computer manufacturers (HP, Dell, Gateway, etc) that are PAID to put the icons there with their OEM installs. And they are paid just for putting the icon there, whether you click it or not. Microsoft makes nothing from it. Real Pros remember when Microsoft sued to keep control of this, and LOST.
And BTW, I'd much rather this client called me when this dialog is asking him if he really wants this program to put itself in startup, change his home page, search settings, attach itself to the system calls, and start sending spam in the background to his entire address book, than to try to help him clean it up later. But, hey, I can't speak for you and your clients.