Exclusive: Microsoft to remove 3 app limit from Windows 7 Starter

The real issue, I suspect, is the fact that Microsoft really doesn't want to be selling low priced versions of an OS to a large segment of the market--a problem they've been stuck with since netbooks hit and they had to bring back XP after, despite all the issues, Linux systems were selling, clearly based on price. The cheap XP version allowed MS to claim that market back--but it's not a real money maker for them. The 3 application limit was a way to get a low priced OS that Microsoft hoped users would upgrade to a "more robust" version once they hit the first complaint. So Windows based netbooks would still be able to be sold inexpensively, but Microsoft would then collect the rest of the "real" licensing fee from the users. I see this as linked to Dell's widely reported whining last week on Windows 7 pricing, with the implied threat that if Microsoft didn't give in they (and perhaps other netbook vendors) would market hard for another OS standard install against Windows 7, using the price hammer. In the manufacturer's view, I suspect the only thing this limit did was put all of the money in MS's pocket. The low margins of netbooks isn't only a problem with the OS vendor. The hardware vendors sold at no margin, and then MS picked up a full upgrade price when users upgraded (with bad feelings going back primarily to the manufacturer that put that limited OS on the machine). Financial reality is that netbooks are not a bonanza financially for anyone in the mix--they are machine a vendor has to sell and it's sold almost exlcusively on price.

SegÚn informa Paul Thurrot en su conocido Supersite for Windows, Microsoft elimina de Windows 7 Starter Edition la limitaciÓn a ejecutar tres aplicaciones de forma simultÁnea...