Windows 7 Starter Edition - WTF?!

[Luke122]

We just pulled a new EEEPC 1005HA netbook out to show to a customer, and we didnt make the sale. Why?

YOU CAN'T CHANGE THE WALLPAPER IN WINDOWS 7 STARTER EDITION.

No seriously, I'm looking into it, because that seems WAY too f*cking stupid to me. Apple will have a field day with this.

[Luke122]

OK, I've found a few ways around this, but OMG.. what a pain in the ass.

[Xpirate]

How did you do it?

[Trace]

You have to be kidding me?!
Please post how.

[progbuddy]

We just pulled a new EEEPC 1005HA netbook out to show to a customer, and we didnt make the sale. Why?

YOU CAN'T CHANGE THE WALLPAPER IN WINDOWS 7 STARTER EDITION.

No seriously, I'm looking into it, because that seems WAY too f*cking stupid to me. Apple will have a field day with this.

Steps to fix this problem.
1.) Kill Windows, claim victory.
2.) Put Ubuntu 9.10 on it.
3.) Change desktop background.

[x88x]

If 7 Starter is like Vista Starter, it also won't let you run more than 3 programs at a time. Doesn't care how many instances of each program you're running, just can't run more than 3. It really amazes me that MS suddenly started selling Starter to normal consumers. It used to be that it was only sold on embedded systems and in developing countries (due to the lower resource load, I guess).

[Zephik]

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/05/29/let-s-talk-about-windows-7-starter.aspx

[Luke122]

No, apparently they removed the 3 app limit, after the incredible consumer backlash. Instead, they removed the ability to customize the user interface.

2 workarounds that I have found:

1. The Asus System Customization Utility included on the device (or available to download from Asus Support) will allow you to replace the wallpaper with one of your own choosing. They apparently addressed this limitation themselves. Go Asus!

2. Samuraize. I found a video "how-to" on Youtube explaining how to use Samuraize to "skin" the desktop with an image of your choice.

[x88x]

I can understand all the other stuff they took out, but really MS? Taking out the ability to change the background? What benefit could that possibly serve?

[Zephik]

It doesn't make any sense at all. There is no way that cutting out the background customization option drops the price of the OS enough so that netbook manufacturers can get Windows 7 without paying full price. Its almost like they did it just to piss people off and for no other reason. I mean really, out of EVERYTHING in Windows 7, you could only think of taking away the option to change the background to "water-down" the OS? I just don't get it. I really don't. Maybe they just thought "well, we could take away this, but would people really care? Probably not. But if we take away the basics like this... that'll inspire people to spend more!". That is the only explanation that I can think of...

[Luke122]

I'm with you 100% on that Zephik.. that feature almost cost me a sale of a 1005HA. Luckily we got the workaround, showed the customer, and she bought it. Thank God.. what else would we do with a bunch of Pink netbooks? Haha

[Zephik]

In a way, Microsoft has a bit of a monopoly here. They have pretty much the entire OS market-share. This is why monopolies or anything even semi-resemblant of them are bad, because the consumers always get screwed.

They should just throw in the regular Windows 7 Basic and stop being assholes about it. I mean really, its not like they would be losing money by doing so. Give me ONE good reason as to why they need to or should water down the OS further than the very basic release. They don't save money, they already spent it developing the OS. What the heck are they getting out of doing this?? It can't be trying to force customers to buy the full OS, that would only result in the tiniest sliver more profit. They're netbooks for crying out loud, that's the main reason why people buy them, is because they're cheap, so people aren't going to spend more on upgrading. So if they aren't going to make money by doing this and they aren't losing money by doing this.. why the heck are they doing this?? I MUST be missing something here.

[x88x]

Well, Windows Starter kinda grew out of Windows Embedded, and the original idea was that it was a stripped-down version that would run on simple, weak, or old hardware. Unfortunately, they seem to have lost sight of that with 7 Starter, and tbh I have no clue what they're doing (other than getting money from people who give up and buy Home Premium).

[progbuddy]

Well, Windows Starter kinda grew out of Windows Embedded, and the original idea was that it was a stripped-down version that would run on simple, weak, or old hardware. Unfortunately, they seem to have lost sight of that with 7 Starter, and tbh I have no clue what they're doing (other than getting money from people who give up and buy Home Premium).

Yeahhh. I think the guys behind the whole Starter Edition thing should go back to Novell, where they belong.

[Airbozo]

Well, Windows Starter kinda grew out of Windows Embedded, and the original idea was that it was a stripped-down version that would run on simple, weak, or old hardware. .....

I really doubt this. Embedded is a totally different beast targeted at a completely different market. Industrial use, NOT consumer use.

The embedded OS is not stripped down and it was not designed to work on low end hardware. The embedded version of XP has a completely different license agreement as well and when applying for an embedded license agreement, you must state the purpose of that device and it is then reviewed by M$. Part of that license states that the device that the embedded OS is installed in will not be used for general computer use and only for specific tasks. It is a violation of that license to install Office or any other sort of production software unless it is used for that purpose ONLY (ie: a device that is built solely to run crystal reports or database query's). You are also bound by the license to NOT use the system for web browsing...

Most of the time an embedded OS is used on things like robot controllers, industrial computer controllers and medical devices. (or similar devices)

I recently went through the licensing application for Embedded XP with a customer and found all this out. It took 2 weeks for M$ to approve the license and actually sign our customer up for the Embedded program. This is the only way they can continue to purchase XP for the next couple of years (except we bought a couple hundred copies of XP just for them)

[x88x]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Vista Embedded was the last Embedded version that MS made. Given that, I assumed that Starter had been expanded to fill the roles that Embedded had previously been used for. It looks like there actually was an XP Starter, which I had forgotten about, and according the the almighty Wikipedia, it's purpose was:

a low-cost introduction to the Microsoft Windows XP operating system designed for first-time desktop PC users in developing countries

Apparently there were a bunch of other weird restrictions on Vista Starter (it couldn't accept incoming network connections...really MS??? really??), but it looks like they actually loosened it a bit with 7.

[TheGreatSatan]

That's why I'm putting Premium on my Eee PC

[Kayin]

Disabling backgrounds doesn't save money, it drives sales by getting people to want to upgrade.

I sell netbooks as well, and I pretty much just tell people don't buy them, they're a waste of money. Our 40% return rate seems to back me up.