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Even though Microsoft is trying to stir up excitement for Windows 7’s prospects on new (and most likely more expensive) multi-touch-enabled PCs, there is more interest among users and industry watchers around the next release of Windows running on netbooks. Microsoft officials demonstrated a full-fledged version (we don’t know which pre-beta build number) of Windows 7 running onan Asus Eee with 1 GB of RAM. Netbooks — which I’ll use here to refer to low-cost, low-end PCs capable of running email and a Web browser, but little else — are quickly becoming an increasingly large part of the overall PC market.

Here’s where the speculation comes in. Many are assuming that because netbooks cost a few hundred dollars, Microsoft will charge netbook makers less per copy of Windows preloaded on these machines than they will charge OEMs for Windows 7 running on full-power laptops. They are basing this assumption on the (seemingly logical) conclusion that PC makers won’t be willing to pay one-fourth or more of the price per machine for the operating system.

Some also are basing their calculations on the fact that Microsoft admitted during its most recent earnings call that its Windows client business was down, in part, because the company is licensing the less-pricey Windows XP to netbook makers because Vista is too big to run on most netbooks. (A distinction lost on some: Microsoft’s revenues were down because XP is cheaper than Vista per copy — not because it charged netbook makers less than full-fledged PC makers per copy of Windows.)

Microsoft won’t talk publicly about how much it charges OEMs per copy of Windows they preload on new machines. As a result of the company’s settlement years ago with the U.S. Department of Justice, we do know that Microsoft can no longer use the price of Windows to discriminate against its top 20 PC maker partners. All of these partners pay the same per copy of Windows. (Below that top tier, there is more variance in pricing, based on volume of machines sold and other factors.)