Samsung to Microsoft: Our Netbooks can Run Full Version of Windows 7
Samsung to Microsoft: Our Netbooks can Run Full Version of Windows 7
Posted 03/26/2009 at 12:00pm
| by Paul Lilly
11
Comments
Print
Today's netbooks typically ship with either Linux or Windows XP, each of which places low demands on hardware so you can focus more on basic computing tasks and less time lamenting how woefully inadequate that Atom processor is compared to your Core i7 desktop. Moving forward, Microsoft plans to release a gimped version of Windows 7 for netbooks and nettops called Starter Edition, which will limit users to running just three applications at a time. But according to Samsung, such restrictions are unnecessary.
"Currently Microsoft provides Windows XP for netbooks. For Windows 7 they would like to give us Windows 7 Starter Edition for netbooks. That's the current plan. [Different versions are a] matter of how much we need to pay to Microsoft. It is an open issue. So we can ship other Windows 7 versions, but it is a matter of royalties," said Kyu Uhm, Samsung's Head of Worldwide Sales and Marketing during an interview with TechRadar.
The pricing structure for Microsoft's upcoming operating system has not yet been announced, but it's safe to say the Starter Edition will ring in the lowest, an important factor when it comes to marketing netbooks and other low-power PCs. So even though netbooks could probably handle an uncrippled version of Windows 7 -- and according to users running the Windows 7 beta on current netbooks, performance isn't much of an issue -- OEMs might have a tough time upselling consumers on a fully functioning version of the OS if it drives the price too high.
How much would you be willing to pay for a full version of Windows 7 on a netbook? Tell us in the comments section below.
Image Credit: Samsung
More like this
Dustn525
March 28, 2009 at 4:30am
A "gimped" version of Windows 7? Sounds like Windows 7 with a 3 app limiter ADDED ON. The way Microsoft seems to work, people will (sadly, because of ignorance) pay more for the limiter to be removed, which didn't need to be there in the first place. Heck, the limiter probably adds a MB or two to the install. Just like XP Home and XP Pro CDs are the same, with some digits changed in an install registry. Oops, did I say that?
F*** off Microsoft, taking advantage of the public's general lack of technical logic is what you thrive on, so stop throwing a bitch-fit everytime something doesn't go your way. What do you expect when you try to sell "Mujave" or aka Vista to people with f***ing brains? Probably some people who'll question why the hell the biggest software company around all the sudden had to launch a cheesy advertising campaign, that f***ing annoys everyone. Then you use some little kids as bait, hoping elders will sit there in their old chairs and say "oooh I'm getting 'lil Jr. a Windows Vista computer for his birthday, that's so neat now-a-days.", when really all that easy photo and video editing shit has been around since the F***ING MID '90's!!!
RedAnt751
March 26, 2009 at 8:05pm
$40.00dollars for non-gimped windows 7 would be reasonable in my opinion.
Right now windows XP is working ok with my MSI Wind and I don’t see any reason why I need to update it.
BAMT
March 26, 2009 at 12:24pm
$20 at most. $200 for Windows? I'd rather have Ubuntu even if Windows Ultimate was only $40.
KGWagner
March 26, 2009 at 1:13pm
I wouldn't even pay $20. I resent that I have to pay to get an OS I don't want in the first place. If for some reason I need Windows, I'd rather buy it after the fact than be forced to buy it whether I want it or not.
majorsuave
March 26, 2009 at 1:00pm
For a netbook 0$
for a desktop I'd pay the same I pay for XBL so 50$ a year with the promise of meaningful seasonal updates and full fledge new versions every 2 years.
jwalch.hawk
March 26, 2009 at 12:15pm
I think that for the most part netbook users are going to be ok with the three app. limit since you don't typically use a netbook for multitasking. In the cutthroat arena that is netbook pricing, the vendors paying less royalties for Starter Edition are going to be able to offer the lowest pricing. I think Starter Edition is going to become the de facto (Windows) OS on netbooks because a vendor offering anything else is going to get undercut.
BoxyBrown
March 26, 2009 at 11:00am
I wouldn't pay anything because its still a netbook and they're still worthless to me.
AntiHero
March 26, 2009 at 11:32am
The deal is, that Netbooks have their place, like a smartphone does. Most common users don't find a reason for it, but some do. I would use it to remotely login to my desktop if i was somewhere else, not home (in conjunction with a 3g modem of course) so if someone needed something, i could mail it to them from my account on the server. Also great if you're a tech wandering around doing work in a big office building, you can carry that with you and use it at will. They don't have a home purpose really.
I don't like Microsoft, I just associate with it.
aluCard1462
March 26, 2009 at 1:08pm
how about surfing the web AT home? i wonder if a netbook could play quake live?
nedwards
March 31, 2009 at 9:47am
i wonder if a netbook could play quake live?
Yes. Most will. The netbook I bought, the Asus 1000HE, plays Quake Live in fullscreen, runs Windows 7 beta (build 7000) with absolutely no problems, and gets six hours of battery life. Not bad for $400.
Connect with MaximumPC
Featured Content
We introduce Intel's latest class of tablet killers and review 4 of the first Ultra...
Where have all the memorable videogame enemies gone?
This month's issue
Feature
11 Hardware Hacks
Feature
Overclock Your CPU
How-To
Supercharge Your Smartphone
Build It
A Powerful $830 Rig
Most Commented Articles
Latest Max PC Tweets
- maximumpc: Microsoft on Patents: Can't We All Just Get Along? http://t.co/g0vginvG2 hours 6 min ago
- maximumpc: Google Drive Cloud Storage: Is Google Preparing To Muscle In On Dropbox? http://t.co/lCWzeYmS2 hours 30 min ago
- maximumpc: Google Tries to Bribe Web Users with Gift Certificates to Track Surfing Behavior http://t.co/rbf2UdDs3 hours 25 min ago
