By default, SharePoint has a large number of SharePoint-specific controls and content zones added to each master page. SharePoint requires most of these controls in order to work correctly. When removing an undesirable control from the master page, we generally hide the control rather than removing it completely. This ensures SharePoint has access to the control, but does not render it to the end user.
Many of the controls included on the SharePoint master pages are required for the page to render correctly. When removing a control we can test whether it can be removed completely. If the page generates errors about the missing control, we know we need to hide it instead of removing it completely.
In this recipe, we will hide the suite bar branding (SharePoint or Office 365) and suite bar links (Newsfeed, SkyDrive, and Sites) using our customized master page.