I am cruising in the passenger seat along I-95 in Maine ready to post thanks for my Verizon VZAccess mobile broadband. It’s the version that comes bundled with and built into an HP Mini 1000 Model 1151r. No card or gadget to plug in.
Quite honestly, I’ve had some problems with it so stay tuned for the full review next week.
Damn, that tractor trailer is close!
As expected, Microsoft has eliminated the limitation of running up to only three applications at once in Windows Starter edition, the netbook operating system.
The announcement was made in The Windows Blog and emphasized that Windows 7 Starter edition is still alive and well. Windows 7 Starter lacks many features found in the Home Premium and Professional versions – both considered full versions of Windows 7. Now users can run as many applications as their hardware can reasonably support instead of being cut off at three.
I posted a Windows 7 strategy story earlier today that originally stated Microsoft was sticking with the limitation which is what I was told by two Windows 7 executives on Wednesday. Shortly afterward, I knew tonight’s blog post was coming and changed the story accordingly.
According to the blog, Starter still does not include the following features found in the full versions of Windows 7.
Nothing has officially changed with Microsoft’s position that Windows 7 Starter edition will only run three applications simultaneously, but rumors that surfaced last week that the limitation would be scrapped will likely become fact…and shortly. System utilities and multiple windows open in a single application do not count toward the limit.
That the limit was still official was according to Microsoft director of netbook PC marketing Don Paterson and senior Windows product manager Stefan Kinnestrand. I interviewed them together for an hour Wednesday to figure out what consumers will be see on netbooks when Windows 7 emerges this Fall in time for the holiday shopping season.
Here’s what we know…or knew. Windows 7 Starter Edition will be preloaded onto certain netbooks, mostly the ones with least power, the fewest features and the lowest price. If users wish to upgrade, they can choose the WAU or Windows Anytime Upgrade just like with Vista.
Assuming that the three app limit goes away, Starter and WAU could become history. The question becomes does Starter go away or does it just lose the limitation. Or something else.
“Users can upgrade their machine to Home Premium in 10 minutes or less so there is no buyer’s remorse,” says Paterson, still behaving as if the limit will be in force when Windows 7 debuts in the Fall (it won’t). Pricing for the WAU or any Windows 7 versions has yet to be announced. Paterson tried to allay fears about the three application limit especially given how smoothly Windows 7 Ultimate already runs on netbooks (see my review).
“Usually when we do a demo, the reaction is much less onerous when you see it person than read about it in print. A dialog box informs the user they have to reached the maximum number of applications and must close one [to launch another,],” says Paterson. ZDNet’s Ed Bott does a nice job listing all the exclusions and has screen shot of the dialog box that warns “Maximum Number of Programs is Already Open.”
However, my sources indicate this will shortly be history when “rumors become fact REALLY soon” which I take to be imminently. Clearly placing such a false restriction on Windows 7 posed tremendous risk for Microsoft which faces competition on netbooks from Ubuntu and Android.
The two primary versions of Windows 7 are Home Edition which presently differ from Starter in that it has richer media features and no application limit. Windows 7 Professional is aimed at small business and work at homers who function within an IT environment and thus require certain security features. Microsoft officials have been on record saying these two versions will make up 80% or more of the market. A third version, Windows 7 Ultimate, is the current release candidate combines all the features of the Professional and Home editions.
“There was a couple of things we wanted to do with Windows 7 such as making sure it runs well on all PC hardware, that it shuts down faster and to make we optimize the memory and storage footprint. The second goal was if to offer wide choice and that it has entry level, premium or professional experiences,” says Kinnestrand.
Choice, however, will be as important for retailers and PC makers as it will for consumers, according to Paterson.
“If you’re Best Buy, you think price points like $100, $249 and $399. [Starter] will better enable the lower end of the category,” he says. “It’s up to the Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) how they want to build [netbooks]. They can run different editions to create offerings at different price points,” he says.
The pair also believes that netbooks still have headroom to grow even though some have “morphed” in what more accurately could be described as notebook PCs.
“The underlying assumption is that netbooks are small PC notebooks. Users [with Windows 7] will no longer have to distinguish between notebooks and netbooks. We are optimistic about growth rate through the next year,” says Paterson, who adds that the theme for netbooks this holiday season will be “thin and light” which are two characteristics we’re to already seeing in netbooks introduced during the past month.
What’s more, he doesn’t see price as the dominant factor in netbook buying decisions.
“The economy has played a key role in the low cost nature of netbooks, but the data we look at isn’t just about low price. Netbooks are companion PC devices. [Typical buyers] make more than $75,000, are in their forties and tend toward the $399 and $449 price points. By and large, the data we see is that people are not driven by price [with netbooks].”
Windows 7 will also push the notion that netbooks serve as companions to more powerful notebooks or desktop PCs. According to Kinnestrand, that’s why Microsoft built Homegroups into Windows 7 (I want to play with Homegroups, but I only have Windows 7 installed on one netbook at the moment. It promises to allow users to share file and media libraries between Windows 7-based PCs).
If Microsoft is nervous about the emergence of Linux variants Ubuntu or Android on netbooks, they are not showing it.
“We have 97% share in the U.S. and more than 90% in 15 of the 16 geographies we track. Windows has a billion users. Ultimately, consumers are drawn to familiarity and compatibility. Android has the same flaws that any Linux variant – lack of compatibility and an unfamiliar user interface,” says Kinnestrand.
[In the name of fairness, I have contacted the Android folks at the Open Source Project to their side of the story, but have not heard back.]
Verizon pitched me recently on doing a post on its Friends & Family calling program launched in February. That’s where qualifying customers can exclude five or ten numbers from counting against their plan minutes.
So I asked Verizon how many have taken advantage of the “free” program and what does Verizon get out of it. Verizon New England spokesman Mike Murphy didn’t answer either question, but did extol the benefits of F&F. So I am left to speculate.
My guess F&F sweetens the pot for customers to upgrade their basic plans to the $60 a month Nationwide Single Line plan which is required for the five F&F package or the $90 Nationwide Family SharePlan for the ten. Or to switch to Verizon from another carrier (a quick check of AT&T plans shows it still only has unlimited inter-network mobile to mobile by comparison). While Verizon says F&F is “free,” the company isn’t giving away anything because you have to sign up for the qualifying plans.
Still, F&F for minute gobblers is a good deal and should not be overlooked especially if you already qualify (Shame on me – I qualify for the ten, but have yet to take advantage of it).
Murphy did have a few interesting things to say about what Verizon has invested in its 3G network in New England -$240 million last year and $2.4 billion since 2000. The motive here is spread the word about the huge capital investment it takes to build these networks to assuage the sting of $40 or $60 a month for 3G wireless broadband, for example. Hey, these networks don’t grow on trees so we all have to pay.
Indeed, Verizon is on a roll with its 86.6 million wireless customers which makes one other of Murphy’s comment all the more intriguing. Besides things like its network and F&F, Verizon, he says, has curried customer favor with the company’s aggressive lawsuits against spammers.
“Maybe some of that loyalty is due in part to these lawsuits against spammers!?!” Murphy says. In early May, the company filed suit against a mortgage company for allegedly sending 800,000 spam text messages to Verizon customers.
Dodge Retort primary blogger, John Dodge (me!) is leaving for Prague tonight to visit and travel with my son. Some TDR readers saw his marvelous posts about his travels to Budapest, Stockholm, Istanbul, Vienna and London from his base at Charles University in Prague. Search Chris in the non-Google search box.
In any event, I will have my netbook with me and hope to post about what folks are using in the faces and Internet bar. For sure, my posts will be less frequent. See you back more regularly on May 21st. And you can always reach me at twitter (twitter.com/thedodgeretort) or at jdodge349@gmail.com. Later…JD
Yours truly takes a break for the roving photographer.
As you’ve undoubtedly noticed, The Dodge Retort has taken on a new look and has become focused exclusively on mobile computing with netbooks as a core topic. In short, TDR has transitioned from a personal blog covering a range of subjects to covering netbooks, handsets and wireless. As the saying goes, focus builds a marketable audience.
What can I uniquely deliver that myriad other sites covering mobile computing don’t already blast out through a firehose? To begin with, I have three decades of not only covering technology, but offering perspective that comes with experience. You will see that here as well as news reporting which is my specialty. Check me out on the about page.
I invite you send me tips, rumors, netbook applications, case studies and if you’re interested in blogging on TDR, please let me know at jdodge349@gmail.com.
The other thing I want to point is the web site of which I am proud. Any web site is a work in progress, but I am have reached some milestones with TDR after three months. First, The Dodge Retort is a real self-hosted WordPress 2.7.1 blog now. This WordPress version is a more robust content management system than auto-hosted WordPress.com which got me started. The chief advantage of 2.7.1 is that TDR can deploy any of the 4,500 free plugins. For example, I can now use Google Feedburner to send out email newsletters (please sign up) and have a range of social media elements that I could not dep0loy with WordPress.com. And I will selectively experiment with more plugins. It will also be easier to optimize the site for building traffic.
I’d also like to thank Dan Englander at High Rock Media for his help with the transition. As a web developer, Dan knows his stuff and is wonderful problem solver. My plan isn’t to deploy every feature under the sun. The site will continue to be simple and uncluttered with my thinking and writing as its main asset. I hope you like it and welcome all views, opinions and comments.
Files sit locked away in Sony file format jail.
Damn Sony and its proprietary file formats. I have a Sony ICD SX46 audio recorder and have used it for podcast forever. Lately, though, it’s got completely flaky with transferring its proprietary audio files and turning them into something sensible like an MP3.
Using the ICD-SX46, I recently did two 20 minute audio interviews with Bill Pulleyblank, a VP with IBM Global Services. I did not want to know about IBM Global Services as much as his intimate involvement with the Blue Gene and Deep Blue projects, the latter of which gripped the public when a supercomputer squared off in two epic chess matches with grand master Garry Kasperov. The result was a split between man and machine.
But my recordings sit stuck on the recorder because Sony operates with proprietary files. Ever heard of a DVF or MSV file? No, I didn’t think so.
MSV stands for Memory Stick Voice, Sony’s own memory file format. It drives me nuts because it doesn’t work with anything I have, including Son’y own voice editing software. Shouldn’t I be able to right click on start, then explore and find the files on the device to download? Not with Sony which has overcomplicated this to an extreme. I am even using the Sony proprietary ow Digital Voice Editor 2.31 and have explored every corner of it to understand why it keeps telling me the Sony’s recorder’s files are incompatible. With what!? How!? Why? This is sooo dumb. I’ve changed every setting and this recorder/editor combo was working fine until a year ago. All I want is a .wav or MP3 file to I can edit it in Audacity.
I guess Sony never got over the betamax mentality trying for force its own formats an unsuspecting consumers. By the way, Sony discontinued this line of handy recorders years ago and replaced with models that natively record in MP3.
Computerworld blogger Cyber Cynic Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols wrote an interesting post this morning about Microsoft’s ploy to suck in netbook users with Windows 7 Starter edition, have them get “disgusted” with it and then pay to upgrade to full Windows 7.
The ploy put forward by Vaughn Nichols makes me feel almost lucky that I have netbooks with full version of the aging Windows XP Home Edition, which is not limited to running only up to three applications simultaneously which is the alleged to be the case with Windows 7 Starter.
But the conspiracy theory here is beyond the pale. If netbooks continue to be the only sweet spot in the PC market, a bad user experience with Windows 7 would give the entire family a bad name. Cyber-Cynic Vaughn-Nichols suggests that Microsoft has deliberately hamstrung Windows 7 Starter to get folks to eventually pay to upgrade to full Windows 7 which the more netbooks in the pipeline will run just fine.
The upgrade is Microsoft’s way of solving the netbook conundrum which is reaping far fewer dollars on pre-loaded XP than Windows on full notebooks and desktop PCs. Such a ploy seems so utterly transparent, but I can’t deny the Windows Starter scenario is plausible.
The Windows 7 version strategy is explained in a Feb. 3 Q&A with Windows general manager Mike Ybarra (also referenced in Vaughn-Nichols post).
“With Windows 7 there will be two primary editions: Windows 7 Home Premium, and Windows 7 Professional. For a majority of our customers the choice is really simple: Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Professional” Ybarra says. But that’s not really the case because in the next breath, he talks about an Enterprise version, Starter, Windows 7 Home Basic and Windows 7 Ultimate. I add that up to be six versions. Windows has more than a billion users so obviously there’s many, many niches the ubiquitous operating system.
So I will go out on limb (I have not run Windows 7 beta) and say for many millions of netbook users, Windows 7 Starter probably be perfectly fine especially if it solves the performance problems netbook users currently experience. Stay tuned.
A common type of Micro USB connector (right). On left is earbud connector(audio out).
Why did a universal charger for all cell phones take so long? And why won’t it happen until Jan. 1, 2012? Happy Earth Day, by the way.
I have posed those question to the CTIA – The Wireless Association and await the answers. I have no fewer than 15 surplus cell phone chargers awaiting disposal. And I have maybe half that many for notebook computers.
So the good news is that the CTIA on April 1 (no joke) at its annual convention in Las Vegas agreed on a common charger standard called, appropriately enough, the “Universal Charging Solution.” The CITA said in a press release that UCS will meet EnergyStar requirements and “will provide an estimated 50% reduction in standby energy consumption.” I’m not quite sure what that last statement lifted from the press release means. Micro USB will be the connector format (see pic).
In February, the GSMA (Global System for Mobile Phones Association) said 17 mobile phone makers came together on the standard and labeled the 2012 target date for implementation “ambitious.” I guess chargers are more complex than they look, but the idea is to reduce their insidious ubiquity by 50%, according to the GSMA.
In the same press release, the CTIA addressed cell phone recycling and reminded anyone doing so to erase their data use the free data eraser.
The door just opened a bit for Android.
Now we know why Windows XP owns a reported 97% of the netbook market. Microsoft was virtually giving it away for $15 a unit and now it’s answer will be is a limited version of Windows 7 known as Starter. The story broke last night in the Wall Street Journal and the general consensus is that it will open the door for Linux and two handset OSes eying the netbook market.
Starter apparently will only run three applications simultaneously which on the surface seems like an anti-consumer measure by Microsoft to preserve sales of full Windows 7. But we’ll have to wait and see when Starter and Windows 7 which is getting good reviews comes out this Fall.
As for other OSes, bring them on and may the best OS win….and have to keep winning. The PC and by extension netbooks have not seen competition since the DOS days and even them it was weak and short-lived. I truly hope netbooks with Symbian, Android and Linux come out in droves although I would never count out Microsoft.
The WSJ story drove some subsequent coverage overnight:
ZDNet – the history of Windows dominance with adeclaration we are entering the “post-Windows era.”
Computerworld - the door just opened wider for Android and ARM-based netbooks.
AP – unrelated to the WSJ but an interesting (and favorable) take on how Microsoft analyzed millions of peices of data to decide what to put into Windows 7.
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