Windows 7 to get thumbs up, but netbook sellers say thumbs down

Jane Ryan
Tuesday, 30 June 2009 14:58

Business IT - Technology

Make no bones about it, Windows 7 OS will be available on thumb drive early next year by all accounts. This means that Netbook users - a booming demographic - will be able to install the new system without buying external drives or putting download caps under heavy strain. But whatever the media, will Windows 7 do the job for netbooks?

Microsoft continues to play it coy with a local spokesperson for Microsoft  telling iTWire today the company has nothing more to say about thumb drive speculation.

Meanwhile, iTWire senior open source reporter Sam Varghese attended a Microsoft conference last week at which he was cordially handed both release candidates of Windows 7 on - you guessed it - a thumb drive.

Many say the option to upload via USB memory sticks should be available.

But with all the hype surrounding this now famed development, few have stopped to ask how an operating system with an 8GB footprint is going to operate on a Netbook, when its predecessor, Windows Vista runs about as smoothly as a tractor on anything with a single core processor.

Of the Australian retailers interviewed, many were unaware of rumored thumb drives. Of those who were, some supported the plan while others were skeptical of a netbook’s ability to run the new operating system at all.

So why the skepticism?

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