Windows 7 A Good Fit For Netbooks

Windows 7 to have a version that will support ultraportable netbooks.

After a misstep in foreseeing that the market for notebooks would move towards the ultraportable internet connectivity-oriented netbooks that can't run its huge Vista, Microsoft is looking come up with a version of its forthcoming Windows 7 operating system that would be able to work on netbook PCs.

Netbooks are low-power consumption systems that have caught like wildfire specially in educational use and emerging markets. They are also eating into a significant chunk of the home computer or desktop market, which is traditionally where Microsoft's last operating system, the widely disdained Vista, was to work. Since the high power PCs have made way for low power, light systems, Microsoft will have no option but to follow suit.

At Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles earlier in the week on Tuesday, the company provided a demonstration of Windows 7 running on a Lenovo netbook that had only 1 GB of RAM memory and a low-end Intel Atom processor.

Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft's senior vice president of Windows and Windows Live engineering carried out the demonstration, which he said used only half the RAM.

Though a number of netbooks were capable of running Vista, reports suggested that Sinofsky agreed to the fact that it was impossible to install the system on models based around flash storage, which in some cases is limited to around 8GB. Microsoft had earlier attributed the disappointing sales by Vista during recent months on fact that there has been a comparative increase in netbook sales against traditional laptops and desktops. It now says a number of netbook manufacturers evaded Vista thinking it would not work on their products.

Microsoft is also reported to be mulling ways to allow more control over the installation to users. It is looking at methods that will allow users to choose exactly what components of Windows 7 are installed on their machines, without making the installation process time-consuming or confusing.

Windows 7 could be Microsoft's ticket to dominating a niche of the computer market where its arch rival Apple is not present. Apple had made it amply clear that it would not cut prices to a level where it would compete against netbooks, and chose instead to push its iPhone as an alternative to a computer.

The flip side for Microsoft could be that it may have to mark down the price of Windows 7, or come up with a truncated version that costs less to make it a financially viable proposition for the customers of netbooks. Netbooks are typically low cost, and users would not like to install an operating system that costs as much as the computer itself. That move is also almost sure to shave off a large portion of Microsoft's margins on Windows 7 for Netbooks, though it may be able to make up the gap through volume sales in case the product takes off.

Microsoft is optimistic of releasing a beta version of Windows 7 sometime eaerly 2009, while Sinofsky reportedly said that ''three years from the general availability of Windows Vista is the right time to release Windows 7''. That would put the commercial launch date in January 2010.

Windows 7 also features multi-touch controls, though using these would need a touch-sensing PC such as the HP's TouchSmart. Apparently there is 25 per cent more space between items on a "jump list" of recently accessed items, in order to make them easier to "click" with a finger. Touch will also work with applications that were designed for it, including Internet Explorer, and with those that were not, since Microsoft has rewired all mouse commands in Windows 7 to understand touch. That would mean the ability to scroll up and down word documents by dragging your finger across the screen, and zoom in by pinching your fingers together.

In terms of networking, Windows 7 will automatically create a "Home Group" of networked PCs, printers, wireless photo frames and other devices. Files, documents, music, photos and all other media stored in "libraries" on any of the networked PCs or devices would be able to be searched and accessed from another Windows 7 PC on the network. A new computer, for example a laptop from work, would be automatically be added when it's brought within range of the network. However, Windows 7 will also allow setting of limited access to work files and respect other corporate security rules. Windows 7 will also automatically switch the default printer to the one on the home network when at home, instead of having to do it manually.

Windows 7 would also have updates to Calculator, Paint, and WordPad, which will also support open document formats including Open XML and ODF.

Business sense
Microsoft, with its Windows 7, is looking to create an operating system that is suitable for a broad range of computing devices, not just the high-end systems used by businesses, gamers, and enthusiasts that Vista was designed for. That would make business sense, in light of the fact that the company's revenue from its all-important Windows franchise grew just two per cent in the most recent quarter as more PC buyers opted to purchase netbook-style PCs.

Most netbooks feature either Windows XP, or the free Linux operating system to perform routine computing tasks such as accessing email, surfing the web, and using IMs (instant messaging). Lenovo, for example, on its IdeaPad S10e netbook that it is pitching to the education market, allows buyers to choose between Windows XP or Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop as the operating system.