Microsoft determines the netbook specs for Windows 7
Microsoft is set to target the burgeoning netbook market extensively with Windows 7 upon release. Unlike Vista, Windows 7 has been designed to work on these low-cost, low-grade machines. The problem is making sure manufacturers want the new OS on their machines, so costs have to be kept to a bare minimum.
In order to achieve this without virtually giving away the new operating system to OEMs, Microsoft has to effectively determine what is a netbook and what isn’t. That way it can offer manufacturers of real, bona fide netbooks Windows 7 on the cheap and ensure this increasingly important market is going to be dominated by Windows 7 rather than XP and Linux.
Microsoft refers to these machines as “small notebooks” or ultra-low-cost PCs (ULPCs) while most of us in the real world prefer the term netbooks. These machines are going to come pre-installed with Windows 7 Starter, or at least that’s what Microsoft hopes. In order to get the manufacturers on side it will sell them the licenses for the new OS at a much cheaper rate than it sells them to PC manufacturers.
TechARP claims to have got hold of the new maximum specs which Microsoft will use to determine who to sell the cheaper-rate Windows 7 Starter OS to. As expected, most of the specs have been made more generous than those determined for XP and Vista. However, the new maximum screen size could be a problem for some manufacturers.
The maximum RAM has stayed the same at 1GB, while the HDD has increased from 160GB to 250GB. Gone are the limitations on both graphics and touch capabilities, while the CPU has gone from just a 1Ghz processor to a 2Ghz processor. Screen size, however, has been reduced from a maximum of 12.1-inches to 10.2-inches, which may prove to be a pain for those manufacturers who have their netbooks pegged at 11 and 12-inches.
Microsoft has yet to confirm these as the new maximum specs for netbooks but they seem sensible and in line with what was to be expected.
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