Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Beta, Windows x64
Microsoft dumps 3-app limit from Windows 7 Starter
by Lee Mathews May 22nd 2009 at 10:28AM
See that little alert above? Take a good look, because if Paul Thurrott's exclusive is on target you won't be seeing it in Windows 7 Starter Edition. Believe it or not, Microsoft has done an about-face on the three simultaneous application limit.
Microsoft took a lot of heat about this limitation, even though it rarely popped up in actual use as CNet's Ed Bott demonstrated. In my own testing, I was able to run more than I normally do - Firefox, Internet Explorer, TeamViewer, ImgBurn, Pidgin, Avast, FastStone Capture, uTorrent - all without prompting an alert.
Nevertheless, it made for an easy target for Windows 7 bashing and prompted people to label Starter Edition things like "an intentionally bad OS."
Now that the most publicly attacked shortcoming appears to be on its way out, it will be interesting to see if the more ridiculous inability to change wallpaper will be dropped as well.
Microsoft took a lot of heat about this limitation, even though it rarely popped up in actual use as CNet's Ed Bott demonstrated. In my own testing, I was able to run more than I normally do - Firefox, Internet Explorer, TeamViewer, ImgBurn, Pidgin, Avast, FastStone Capture, uTorrent - all without prompting an alert.
Nevertheless, it made for an easy target for Windows 7 bashing and prompted people to label Starter Edition things like "an intentionally bad OS."
Now that the most publicly attacked shortcoming appears to be on its way out, it will be interesting to see if the more ridiculous inability to change wallpaper will be dropped as well.
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
adam1drift said 10:59AM on 5-22-2009
GAY!
Reply
Drew Green said 11:32AM on 5-22-2009
No, this is a good thing. The REMOVED the limit.
Djblois said 11:18AM on 5-22-2009
They should remove the aero peak features and some of the higher end usability features. Also, maybe set a limit to 10 applications.
Reply
kaushik810 said 2:52AM on 5-23-2009
Microsoft should remove the crap limit and instead tone down the OS, maybe remove certain applications and other superficial features.
jhtrico1850 said 11:27AM on 5-22-2009
Yes!
Reply
Muffin_man said 12:31PM on 5-22-2009
This latest Windows 7 news is pleasing. Finally MS realises they can't just ignore the bad PR they get and actually have to listen to criticisms.
Reply
wbblue1 said 1:12PM on 5-22-2009
This isn't news, XP Starter and Vista starter were both limited to low resolutions, and 3 open applications (each of which can open, I believe, 3 windows) at a time. Further, the Starter editions are a (feeble) attempt to slow down piracy in developing countries, where most people aren't going to pay full price (or any money, really) for a normal copy of Windows. Starter has *not* been sold in any of the major markets (US, Western Europe, Japan).
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Taylor. Yes, Taylor. said 2:18PM on 5-22-2009
The reports I've read implied that starter *would* be sold in the U.S., on netbooks. So although you are correct that previous starter versions were for developing countries, it seems Win7 was going to be taking a different approach.
So this is news, go away.
On a side note, I wish they didn't make a starter version at all, so windows was so expensive that people kept putting linux on things. Though not "EZLinux" or whatever MSI has done, that just makes linux look worse. Ubuntu!
-Taylor
Wewtaco said 12:07PM on 5-23-2009
Now what makes it different than Windows 7 Home other than it's cheaper and you can't change wallpaper?
Reply