Windows 7 Starter v. Linux: the netbook wars
Jacksonville - Microsoft may be facing its steepest competition in years. The problem? The popularity of netbooks.
These small laptops are convenient and cost-effective. This also means, however, that netbooks do not have the memory capacity to run Vista, Microsoft’s latest operating system. In order to retain any of the market share in netbook sales, Microsoft improvised, offering its older operating system, XP, at a reduced cost in order to compete with other, cheaper operating systems, such as Linux.
With a new version of Windows due to come out and the minimal return on selling a discounted XP, Microsoft announced plans to offer a starter version of Windows 7 to netbook users. This starter version would be reduced both in price and in capabilities, the main drawback being that users could only have so many programs running simultaneously.
While a starter version of Windows 7 may keep Microsoft in the market, many wonder why people would opt to use it when Linux is available for a lesser price and allows users to do more. Time will only tell if Microsoft’s gamble will pay off with Windows 7, or if Linux and other operating systems will finally make some headway on Microsoft’s dominance.
Three apps running is as much as you want to do with any version of Windows anyways!