Windows 7 Starter Edition Three App Limit Axed?

We really like the things that Microsoft has done to make Windows 7 efficient enough to allow it to run acceptably on most netbooks – something that we couldn’t say for Windows Vista.

As a lightweight solution for netbooks, Microsoft has been selling Windows XP licenses to go along with the hardware. That won’t be happening as often after the release of Windows 7, as everyone will be pushing the newer OS.

In an effort to keep costs low and to manufacture different product tiers, Microsoft has said that it will make Windows 7 Starter Edition the cheap solution for low-cost PCs, including netbooks. Windows 7 Starter Edition will be held back with a three-app limit, which as the name suggests, allows at most only three applications to be open at once. (Click here to read more on the limitation.)

According to a blog report from long-time Windows tech journalist Paul Thurrott, Microsoft will remove the three-application limitation from Windows 7 Starter Edition.

Thurrott’s blog posts reads:

Exclusive: Microsoft to remove 3 app limit from Windows 7 StarterNo word yet on whether the other lame limitation--the bizarre inability to change the desktop wallpaper--will be fixed as well. To be honest, this is a bigger issue than the 3 app limit, which sounds horrible but doesn't actually come up all that often if at all.

We haven’t heard this information from any other sources; but if true, Microsoft has some thinking to do on how to differentiate (i.e., cripple) a cheap version of Windows to still attract users to pay up for an upgrade.