Netbooks can ship with any version of Win7

Actually, this isn’t new news at all. But TG Daily reports that Microsoft UK has confirmed that netbooks can ship with any version of Windows 7.

Far as I know, that’s never been a question. It’s just that Starter Edition is considerably cheaper than other versions of Windows 7. Microsoft has placed hardware restrictions on Starter Edition – netbook manufacturers can only sell Starter on certain kinds of (generally skimpy) hardware. But as far as I know, there’s never been a restriction on selling any of the mainstream versions of Windows 7 pre-installed on any piece of hardware.

(The TG Daily article also mentions that the three-application limit has been removed from Starter Edition, but that happened a long time ago. I talked about it four months ago, on May 23.)

I’ve long advocated running Windows 7 Home Premium on netbooks. I used an ASUS 1000H with Win7 Ultimate all through the beta and RC versions, without a hiccup. In short, as I explain in Windows 7 All-In-One For Dummies, there’s no reason to get Starter Edition with your new netbook, unless you absolutely can’t afford Home Premium.

UPDATE: I’m seeing this report pinging all over the Internet, and I’m aghast. Nothing has changed. Why is this “news”??? Microsoft set MAXIMUM hardware requirements for Starter Edition: I talked about that in my June 4 Top Story in Windows Secrets Newsletter. Netbook manufacturers who wanted to sell their wares with Windows 7 Starter installed couldn’t pump up their netbooks very much, as I explained last month. But there’s never been a hardware restriction on Home Premium, Business or Ultimate.