Sources tell us here in San Francisco that there will be a version of Windows 7 for netbooks that won’t have most of the functionality leeched out of it.
That will mean there will be seven versions of Windows 7, if the sources are correct, and meaning lots of the hardware community will breathe a sigh of relief.
Earlier reports this year suggested that Microsoft might cut down the functionality of Windows 7 for netbooks, because of course it cannot charge a huge amount for the OS software, as that would badly affect the bill of materials (BOM) of the network beasts.
Exactly how Microsoft will square this Windows 7 pricing circle remains to be decided, but the sources indicated that pressure from Intel – and to a lesser extent the poor ODMs (original design manufacturers) that build the machines were all in a tizzy over their machines being considered inferior, seeing as they still sell and ship like hot cakes.
We’ll try and solve and coagulate this question over the course of this coming week.
