RSSIntel software engineer: Is Win7 on netbooks worth the premium?
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published February 5, 2009, 10:14 AM
It may be the clearest demonstration to date that the working relationship between Intel and Microsoft is about as loosely coupled today than at anytime in the companies' histories. A very frank but official blog post from Intel software engineer Josh Bancroft, dated Tuesday, warns prospective netbook buyers that one of the elements not revealed by Microsoft's not-very-revealing announcement on Windows 7 SKUs earlier this week concerns licensing fees.
"Currently, when Microsoft sells a license of Windows XP on a netbook, they're making very little money," writes Bancroft. "They would have preferred to stop selling XP altogether a long time ago. But the low cost of an XP license adds very little to the overall cost of a netbook -- important when you're selling a device for $300-$500. No one but Microsoft knows how much it will charge for the various versions of Windows 7, but it's safe to assume that it won't be much (if at all) cheaper than Windows Vista. And adding, say, $100 to the cost of a $400 netbook just to pay for Windows 7 is going to be a tough proposition all around."
Bancroft also states he's impressed with the performance of Windows 7 on netbooks, noting that this new edition has made inroads on platforms where Windows Vista had failed. But he then asks a series of rhetorical questions of his blog readers, including whether they truly believe the almost certain price premium that Starter Edition (his candidate for the netbook platform of choice) will add enough perceived value to a netbook product over and above a Windows XP-endowed version, to justify the price premium. He throws in the discovery that Starter Edition has an apparently artificial multitasking limit of three applications at one time, a limit XP does not have.
Intel has an interest in a netbook operating system of its own, specifically a streamlined Linux distribution called Moblin. [Industry Standard reporter Lincoln Spector spotted this blog post first.]
while XP is 9 years old
It Has been updated & patched & Made better if not the best.
It is low on resources , Hardware req & also on pockets.
Although Win 7 mightclaim 2be better But i hv used 2 of it betas & it is Good on the eye but when it comes down to hardcore performance it is not better than Vista
Xp is the best operating system Till Date & i Personally Prefer It 2 Vista/7
Windows xpsp3 is going to be no 1 For years 2 come
Thanx 2its low requirements & High Performance
As of INTEL For 1ce They spoke from the consumers point of view
A lot of u Might Differ With me But At THE End Performance & Speed is what matters
& Win XPSP3 is THE BEST Till NOW
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|Bets on how many hours after the release of the starter edition it takes for some hacker to remove the 3 process limit can be made in reply to my post.
My bet: 0.5
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|What would be the point? They'll crack ultimate edition first.
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|wasn't it already stated by MS that they would rather see folks with Home Premium or above on their netbooks? i believe that came straight from MS
i wish people would stop making a bigger deal out of this than necessary, there will not be that much of a price increase, the market wouldn't accept it for one, so why would MS bump up the prices a great deal? meantime, we'll see how it plays out, we have seen no prices on the OS itself, let alone loaded onto hardware to be sold
but sure, we may have to pay a little more for Windows 7 on netbooks, its a great OS and has yet to be released, while XP is 9 years old, of course that software is worth less these days, why would XP pricing be on par with Windows 7 today?
the Intel Software Engineer seems to be saying that it would be wrong for MS to charge more for a Windows 7 license netbooks than XP, when its not wrong at all
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|*laughing*
Like Intel is going to be non-biased after the chipset fiasco they had with vista.
Windows XP OEM: $81.44 (Mwave)
Windows Vista Home Premium OEM: $99.75 (Mwave)
Considering the actual OEM's are now getting volume discounts on Vista, it's probably much closer. Using "Starter Edition" In place of Home Premium (which is laughable when comparing to XP), and you can bet it will be even more laughable.
IOW: Intel is pissed off and is now on a FUD campaign. And Scott is dutifully reporting on it... Go figure.
"Intel has an interest in a netbook operating system of its own, specifically a streamlined Linux distribution called Moblin. "
Yeah, that's not a dead give-away that they have a reason to attempt to downplay Windows.
But seriously? A netbook is nothing more than a glorified PDA. They *should* be running Linux.
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|"But seriously? A netbook is nothing more than a glorified PDA. They *should* be running Linux."
It's a small laptop. It doesn't take a genius to see it :)
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|Yeah, but I can't stand those itty-bitty keyboards (as I type this on my gigantic Logitech G11).
Hate tiny keyboards. The keypad on my LG Voyager is a PITA to use.
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|Too many twinkies = fat fingers, you know :P
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|Nah, I likey the cupcakes better. ;)
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|What do you make of the multitasking limitation? New netbooks are likely going to be at least dual core so a 3 application multitasking limitation seems like more PR trouble for MS than it is worth in trying to get OEM's and consumers to buy a more expensive Windows 7 version.
I wish MS wouldn't put arbitrary limits on Windows 7. I can understand not including functionality (Bitlocker etc.) but limitations seem draconian.
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|If they are Core2, why limit them to "Starter"? Why not put Home Premium on them?
Still, I don't see people running more than 1 or 2 apps at a time on a 7" screen... I barely have room for my 4 main apps on my 24" widescreen... *shudders*
Yeah, hate the whole idea of netbooks. But that's just me...
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