Stan Beer
Monday, 20 April 2009 17:03
Business IT -
Technology
Page 1 of 2
Microsoft is being pilloried over its plan to hobble the power of
netbooks with a crippled version of its new operating system called
Windows 7 Starter Edition. With the release of Windows 7 still months
away and a competitor like Google's Android looming, Microsoft may be
just testing the market to gauge its reaction. If so, the answer it is
receiving spells trouble.
The fact is that consumers will not accept paying
for an operating system that deliberately stunts the power of their
hardware and only allows three applications to run simultaneously. Not
in this day and age when they now have plenty of alternatives to choose
from.
Aside from the various Linux distributions and the Linux-based Android,
Microsoft is likely to encounter considerable resistance from users of
Windows XP.
Claims from Microsoft that Windows XP users would be satisfied to
"upgrade" to Windows 7 Starter, with its 3 applications limit, because
it's "easier" and "more reliable" are beyond nonsense. They insult the
intelligence of Microsoft's customers.
For a start, a new operating system is not going to be easier than an
operating system that you've already been using for eight years - at
least not initially.
Second, it will take a lot to convince XP users that any brand new
operating system is going to be more stable and reliable than the
tried, tested and mature Windows XP.
Finally, it stretches the sensibilities beyond their limits to think
that Microsoft could even try to convince any of its users that going
from full-powered XP to a severely stunted version of Windows 7 is an
upgrade.
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