The question is, as always, are these “essential features” “essential” by who’s standards?
How would one user be able to use any features at all if his connection drops packets and he gets a corrupted installer?
This new network installer is essential going back to the roots of the web browser distribution, it’s a feature that acts even before the installation with the objective of assuring the user will get the web browser downloaded and installed correctly. It isn’t any less essential than any other thing you might want to mention.