Because of its heavy resource usage and higher price, manufacturers have shied away from offering Windows Vista on their Netbooks. The major computer companies have instead chosen to put either Linux or Windows XP (over two years outdated and counting). According to IDC, Vista has only a 1.5% netbook marketshare.
Windows 7 is the next iteration of the Windows OS dynasty but is an incremental upgrade to Vista and is built on the same code base. Although many people have reported that it feels faster, according to many experts Microsoft has merely changed the interface and not the underlying gears. PC Pro has reported that performance for benchmarks for typical office work is identical to Vista and slower than XP.
But HP has voiced its support for the OS and will offer no less than three editions of Windows 7 on its netbooks. Kyle Thornton, category manager for business notebook PCs at HP, has claimed that in preliminary tests its line of netbooks are capable of running Windows 7. But because of the price-point advantage of XP and Linux, Microsoft will be allowing manufacturers to ship netbooks with the Starter edition, which was previously limited to developing countries. The Starter edition however will only allow users to run three programs simultaneously.
Source: Computerworld
Hmm… I thought HP would be smarter than that. Putting a crippled OS on a popular, new class of machines. They must not think highly of their target market. To them, those people must be idiotic, easy pickins.
“But because of the price-point advantage of XP and Linux, Microsoft will be allowing manufacturers to ship netbooks with the Starter edition, which was previously limited to developing countries. The Starter edition however will only allow users to run three programs simultaneously.”
And some manufactures thought they saw a high return rate with Linux netbooks, just wait and see what happens if they drop this turd on consumers. Think HP just became even more of an “also ran” in the netbook market than they were already.
The Cold Numbers of Microsoft’s Netbook/Linux Nightmare // Feb 12, 2009 at 10:58 pm
[...] RSS ← HP Charges Ahead with Windows 7 on Netbooks [...]
I really did have to look at the clock on the top right (not bottom) to make sure it wasn’t April.
I agree, I thought HP was smarter than this. I’ve got quite a few friends who use Windows XP on netbooks and they all run around 4 to 5 apps. This does not include those in the status bar.
The 3 apps are only counted if they place a window in the task bar I believe.
This should not surprise anyone. All netbooks (Intel, not ARM) will have Windows 7. The only question is, will they push (a huge liability risk for the OEM, probably more so for MS. The Vista Home Capable lawsuit waiting to happen?).
Keep in mind, HP has their new MEI Linux offering, built in house. This shows they are serious about Linux. MS is the ones to worry, Starter machines at $20 over the Linux version or Home Premium at $79-$99 over the Linux version.
Toss in that XP worked because it was given away and it was familiar to users. Windows 7 will be as “alien” as any Linux distro version.
The Linux Netbook Nightmare:$435 million in vaporized MSFT 2008 profits (cont) // Feb 20, 2009 at 7:25 pm
[...] For the first time in recent memory, Microsoft has a real operating system competitor for PCs. And Vista is not up to the challenge because MSFT wants to sell it for full price and it’s too resource intensive for low powered netbooks . So MSFT is relying on its two year outdated OS, Windows XP to take on Linux. Vista runs on a neglible 1.5% of Netbooks. [...]
Asus Working on Google Android Netbook // Feb 21, 2009 at 9:46 pm
[...] Of course, this will be an important front in the epic battle between tech’s two titans: Microsoft and Google. The big G has handily defeated MSFT in internet search and its trying to build on that big win. Google had $8.7 billion in cash on hand at the end of 2008 (more than MSFT) and thus has the financial ammunition for a long fight. It could combine its efforts to build an office suite to offer a complete alternative to the MS Windows + Office monopoly. It will be interesting to see what Linux with a big corporate sponsor is capable of. This might be essential once Windows 7 is introduced. [...]
MSI Wind Vista Faster Than XP, Has Vista’s Flaws Been Exaggerated? // Feb 22, 2009 at 3:37 pm
[...] is an also-ran in the netbook market. It controls a mere 1.5% of marketshare. Many experts attribute this to the fact that the operating system is too heavy to [...]