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Preston Gralla

Seeing Through Windows

It's official: Microsoft won't release a netbook version of Windows 7

8 comments

TAGS:netbooks, Windows 7
IT TOPICS:Laptops & Netbooks, Operating Systems, Software, Windows & Microsoft

It's official: Microsoft says it's not building a netbook-specific version of Windows 7. It announced its official lineup for Windows 7 today, and you won't find a netbook version anywhere.

In the Windows 7 lineup, which Microsoft announced today, you'll find Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate. Home Basic will be sold only in emerging markets.

Nowhere will you find a netbook-specific version of Windows 7. In fact, in a Q & A with Windows General Manager Mike Ybarra distributed to the press, the company says that netbooks should run Windows 7 Ultimate, the most powerful version of the new operating system. Ybarrra says:

We have designed Windows 7 so different editions of Windows 7 can run on a very broad set of hardware, from small-notebook PCs (sometimes referred to as netbooks) to full gaming desktops.

If that isn't clear enough, he has this to say as well:

At beta we've had a lot of people running our most premium, full-featured offering on small-notebook PCs (netbooks) with good experiences and good results. So we're pleased to see that on this class of hardware Windows 7 is running well.

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Windows 7 is such a pig that

Submitted by Anonymous on February 7, 2009 - 9:44 P.M.

Windows 7 is such a pig that it is impossible to craft a netbook version from it.

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You're an idiot

Submitted by Anonymous on April 24, 2009 - 3:43 P.M.

If Windows 7 is such a pig, then why are netbooks able to run the most full-featured version of Windows 7? Try actually reading the article before making such stupid comments.

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That is really interesting,

Submitted by Alan van der Vyver on February 8, 2009 - 11:27 P.M.

That is really interesting, because I am running it on one netbook and Ubuntu Linux on another identical one and their performance is comparable.

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I am a Macintosh

Submitted by Zopher Green on February 4, 2009 - 11:27 A.M.

I am a Macintosh advocate.

Unfortunately I agree that Preston's credibilty is in the toilet.

Computerworld should not be wasting our time with such shoddy reporting tactics.

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POOR ETHICS!!!

Submitted by Anonymous on February 4, 2009 - 8:58 A.M.

Some people will only read the headline and think that they cannot run Win7 on a netbook. That is just a poor selfserving choice in headlines. I will start to avoid your BLOG from now on unless you issue an apology with a heading such as "All Windows 7 Beta Version Run On Netbooks".

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It's hard to put into words,

Submitted by Paul on February 4, 2009 - 7:39 P.M.

It's hard to put into words, but there seems to be a category of reader who always needs to make a trashy comment about the blog itself or the writer rather than addressing the content. Whether this comes from an underlying hostility or just a need to blab and insult, I don't know. In any event, I found the article to be straightforward and informative, given that everyone is dealing with the yet-unknown final strategy of microsoft.

I've tried the beta on a modest computer, and it seemed competent. It's too bad that the proposed starter edition apparently will not include local networking -- an omission that would be a disadvantage on a unit with no optical drive.

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Poor Ethics?

Submitted by CompUser on February 4, 2009 - 10:41 A.M.

I guess that's why people should READ THE ARTICLE! The writer of the story doesn't always (if ever) write the headlines.

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No netbook version?

Submitted by Mark Wilson on February 4, 2009 - 4:32 A.M.

Whilst the Windows 7 Ultimate (beta) is running fine on my netbook (a Lenovo S10e) I feel that your article is a touch misleading. The communication I received from Microsoft (directly, not via a third party) said that "We will continue to offer a few targeted SKUs for customers with specialized needs: for price-sensitive customers with small notebook PCs, some OEMs will offer Windows 7 Starter [...]"

That sounds to me as though Starter Edition will be the version that will ship on netbooks, with a lower price point (as with XP) so that the cost of the OS does not push the price of the PC too high and make Windows models look unfavourable against their Linux brethren. Users may then chose to upgrade to another SKU for additional functionality and it will still run on the limited hardware.

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