The forthcoming Windows 7 will be a big test of Microsoft’s ability to segment the market for the operating system and persuade more users to pay up for higher-end versions.
So it isn’t a good sign for the company (though it is a good sign for consumers) if Microsoft is forced to add more capabilities to cheaper versions of the software.
That has just happened with the “Starter” edition of 7, which will be the version that ships on most netbooks after the software goes on sale later this year. Microsoft had planned to ship a version of 7 that allowed no more than three applications to run at once. In fact, CEO Steve Ballmer had appeared to confirm on Thursday that that was still the plan, when discussing the issue at the AllThingsD conference.
On Friday, however, Microsoft decided it was time to “clarify” things. After “feedback… from partners and customers”, it said, the three-application restriction was being scrapped.
The company still hopes that netbook users will feel the urge to upgrade to higher-priced versions of Windows 7. But the benefits outlined in the company’s blog are hardly compelling: some visual bells and whistles and some extra media features that do not sound essential (most netbook users probably won’t want to plug a separate DVD player into their machines or stream media direct from another home computer).
It’s another sign that to hang on to the burgeoning netbook market, Microsoft will have to make bigger price concessions than it would like.
