Microsoft readies Win7 netbook specs
link: original article - section: windows
Microsoft is readying a set of maximum specs for Windows 7 netbooks –or, as Microsoft prefers to call them, “small notebooks” — that will likely dictate which PCs will qualify for lower per-copy Windows 7 pricing.
The alleged Windows 7 netbook specs were published earlier this month on the TechARP technology enthusiast site.
Microsoft established a similar set of specs for XP and Vista netbooks, a category the company had been referring to as ultra-low-cost PCs (ULPCs). The ones it is developing for Windows 7 are designed for netbooks that have smaller screens and single-core 2 GHz CPUs, TechARP said.
(Just to be clear: Microsoft’s Windows unit isn’t confirming any of the information that TechARP is providing and updating regularly about Microsoft’s alleged plans for Windows 7. But a lot of what the site is getting surely seems plausible — and if I were guessing — is coming directly from OEMs.)
A quick refresher as to what Microsoft has said to date about Windows 7 on netbooks:
* All Windows 7 SKUs will be able to run on netbooks. But the ones Microsoft expects most netbook makers to preload are Windows 7 Starter Edition and Windows 7 Home Premium.
* Starter Edition will limit users to running three concurrent applications. Windows 7 Starter Edition, unlike XP Starter Edition, will be for sale to users in both developing and developed nations.
* Microsoft has not shared publicly what it intends to charge PC makers per copy of Windows 7. But it is said to be charging them about $15 a copy for XP when they are preloading it on netbooks — a price significantly lower than it charges PC makers per copy of XP or Vista preloaded on full-fledged laptops and PCs.
