A Peek at Windows 7 Starter's 3 App Cap
Although Windows 7 Starter Edition will likely be the least used version by readers of this site, its artificial limitations do have our attention.
Windows 7 Starter Edition will be the el cheapo option aimed at low-cost PCs and netbooks, perhaps paving the way for more of the latter products to hit $200. This makes sense, but what has many concerned and curious is the artificially three programs running at once.
Early tests of Windows 7 Starter Edition beta versions show that the three-program limitation is already in place. Microsoft clearly has some sort of criteria as to what counts towards that three, and we would hope that mostly background running applications such as anti-virus programs don’t hog a spot, but we won’t really know until the final version is in our hands.
Microsoft details in its help section, “With Windows 7 Starter, you can open up to three programs at the same time. For example, if you start WordPad, Paint, and Calculator, and then you try to open a web browser, you’ll see a message telling you that you already have three programs open.”
With such limitations in place, users will either want to pony up the cash for the upgrade to Home Premium, or rely heavily on web-based applications such as Google Docs or webmail. We can’t see anyone being happy in being forced to shut down a program just to do some math on the calculator.
For now though, check out these images courtesy of WinSuperSite of Windows 7 Starter Edition hitting the app cap.



http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/newsroom/winxp/WinXPStarterFS.mspx
Windows Vista Starter is not available in developed technology markets such as the United States, the European Union, Australia, or Japan. Windows Vista Starter ships on lower-cost computers sold by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Microsoft OEM distributors in 139 countries.
In essence, Windows Vista Starter is ideal for beginner computer users, and is the most affordable edition of Windows Vista.
I hope Windows 7 has a similar version that is just the core OS without the software added in. I do need to open a lot of programs and such, so "starter" isn't going to cut it I guess. Hope MS reads this post so they make a version just for me
The next upgrade from this just won't have the limit. Then perhaps it'll throw in some other stupid freebie. These artificial limitations companies put into products like this are simply greedy.
If they really want to create a version of Windows 7 for folks who can't / won't spend as much as Microsoft wants, they should just charge less.
I'll bet you if they charge far less anyhow, they'd likely see more sales, and a little less piracy.
Why would windows 7 be?
LOL
A netbook user isn't going to (and cant go to) Mac OSX.
Sorry to ruin your day, but most people are PC users because most people cannot afford Apple hardware.
My biggest hang up with Vista, and now 7 is the UAC use. If they were smart, they would make it a smart application. Instead of using a carte blanche approach to launching programs, it should be capable of making many of the choices it forces on the user, repeatedly. Thus you either shut it completely off, or suffer with it.
My recomendation is to make a setting that works as a firewall with antivirus software as the first key, and as a last resort, user input. Basically, it would open the file in a virtualized area, allow antivirus software to check it, and if it is ok, do a checksum and mark it as always allowed, until the checksum is invalidated. Using it as a check ONCE verify/block, would take 98% of the irritation away,while taking not one bit of the security away. Only when a program is flagged as virus or possible virus, would UAC prompt the user whether it wanted to continue, and because it did this virtualized test of the program, it would be able to give accurate detailed information to the user, which they could then use to make a decision as to whether to allow or block the program from moving into the sommon working space.
As a safety measure, safe mode would have options to reset individual program UAC flags or system wide UAC flags.
You do realize that Microsoft really doesn't care that you're not buying Win7, right? A small amount of their income is OS sales, they really don't care. People like you, who don't know how to use the OS then come whining with feedback in the wrong places, is why we can't have anything nice. It's why Vista was given false, bad hype for years.
I see you wrote a bunch of garbage about security, why don't you take that to Microsoft feedback instead of a comment section on a news and review site?
I think this will only drive users to format their brand new lappies and put a pirated copy of XP. Problem solved.
You do know that Win7 is barely over the resource usage of Windows XP on a small-memory system, right?
You do know that NT6/6.1 uses more memory when you have more, and unloads that extra usage when something else needs it, right?
Oh right, you don't. You don't know what you're talking about and I suggest you learn. You're spreading bad hype and driving away customers from an OS because YOU don't understand them.
P.S. New OS are small upgrades from the last, I suggest you look at the history of Windows.
Win7 Starter is for NETBOOKS and similar applications. If it ships on your new Dell, that's Dell's scamming, not Microsoft's.
The 3 application limit is because Netbooks (by definition) probably won't have more than a browser open.
I'm sure there will be work arounds, and those work arounds will be quickly exploited.
My opinion - I suspect that netbook users are generally checking e-mail, surfing the web and running one more program as a norm. Is it really that harsh a limitation?
One last question. Are we all going to get sued for using the term "netbook"?