Microsoft has never been on my list of favorite companies; as I've explained in my book, they've built their business around retarding, rather than advancing, innovations.
But sometimes they really astonish me. The latest is reports about their "Windows 7 Starter" package. Windows 7 is the successor to the ill-fated Windows Vista, which offered nothing to the computer owner except expense and headaches. Windows 7 Starter is even worse: according to reports, netbook computers with Windows 7 Starter will only be able to run three applications at a time. If you have email, instant messaging, and Skype open — and then you want to run another program, such as browse the web — you're out of luck.
Other reports I've seen claim that you won't even be able to change the "wallpaper" on a Windows 7 Starter netbook — you'll be stuck with whatever wallpaper comes with the machine.
I know what I'd do with a computer that could only run three programs at once: I'd return it to the store immediately. I'd like to say that I find the report unbelievable, but unfortunately I find the report all too believable: Microsoft has enough money and a defacto monopoly, and thus even the most spectacularly stupid ideas and spectacular failures don't seem to result in a reality check.
Topics: · business · computing · microsoft
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