Microsoft & Intel limit netbook sizes for Windows 7 licensing

Sean Ridgeley - Tuesday, May 26, 2009 10:33am (PST) 0 Favourite (0)

10.2'' the new limmit, VIA Tech ousted

In our Lenovo announces ION graphics-based IdeaPad S12 netbook article yesterday, readers debated whether or not the manufacturer's latest foray into the mini PC world was truly a "mini" PC, what with its 12.1'' screen.

As Microsoft had it, 12.1'' was the maximum limit for a PC to be considered a netbook, meaning anything up to and including that size would receive the discount for a netbook version of a given Windows operating system.

Today we learn Intel and Microsoft have agreed upon a new standard -- 10.2'', according to Taiwan-based ODM, who manufacture notebooks.

Not a terribly significant event in itself, but the effects are. VIA technologies, Intel's only main competitor in the netbook world as far as we can tell, will be cut off from their current price advantage in the 11-12.1'' segment as they no longer qualify for the discounted Windows 7 on netbooks licensing rates from Microsoft; Intel already currently dominates the more common 10'' segment with its Atom CPUs.

The new limitation is part of a set of changes in Microsoft's new netbook standards:

Key Specifications	Today (Windows XP / Windows Vista)	Windows 7 Starter / Home Basic for Small Notebook PCs
Screen Size	• Not to exceed 12.1"	• Not to exceed 10.2"
Memory	• 1 GB RAM	• 1 GB RAM
Storage	• 160 GB HDD or 32 GB SDD	• 250 GB HDD or 64 GB SDD
Graphics	• Less than or equal to DX9	• No limitation
Touch	• Resistive touch only	• No limitation
CPU	• Single core processors that do not exceed 1 GHz frequency, or • Intel Atom (N270, N280, 230, Z500, Z510, Z515, Z520, Z530, Z540, Z550), or • Intel Celeron 220, or • AMD (MV-40, 1050P, TF-20, Geode LX, Athlon 2650e, Sempron 210U), or • VIA (C7-M ULV, Nano U1700, U2250, U2300, U2400 or U2500)	Single core processors that : • do not exceed 2 GHz frequency, and • have a CPU thermal design power that is less than or equal to 15 W, not including the graphics and chipset.

Source: DigiTimes Systems

Alternate Source: TechARP

Sections: OS & Software, Portable Computing

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-1 thumbs!

Guest May 28, 09

Wouldn't most people want XP anyway? The rumor has it that W7 is just Microsoft attempt to fix the problems with Vista and change its name.
Staff

0 thumbs!

chautemoc May 28, 09

Most people that listen to unfounded rumours on the Internet, yes.

I've been using Windows 7 for awhile now and really enjoy it. It's not perfect but it fixes a lot of the things that shouldn't have been implemented in Vista, and adds a lot of great functionality, too.

It's not as big of a jump as Windows 2000 was to XP, say, but Microsoft have openly stated Vista and 7 share similar architecture, and that the latter is building on the former. It's certainly a bigger jump than just being a service pack with a new name on it, as those folks are claiming.