Its the Linux counter edition. Essentially they give away this for free to make the actual laptop/netbook cheaper than the Linux version (Higher support costs for Linux) and ensure that Linux itself gains little traction. One must respect or grudgingly respect how they have kept Linux irrelevant in the home consumer segments for better than 15 years!

Hi kids! My name is Windows Vista Starter. I can run 3 applications at a time. I have existed since the launch of Vista. Since none of you people knew I existed, I am betting you won't care about Windows 7 Starter either. Perhaps next time you guys decide to flip out over nothing you should see if it is even a new development.

there is a difference though, Windows 7 isnt trash like Vista.

 Vista is a fine OS if your system is designed to actually run it. The problem is it was installed on a lot of machines that are simply not strong enough to run it.

 OT: I did some reasearch on XP Starter Edition. I had never heard of it before, but guess what I found out? It has a limit to the number of applications that can be run at the same time. Anyone want to guess what that limit was? I'll give you a hint. It is a number between 1 and 10 that rhymes with three.

LOL.  I didn't know that.  Kind of makes all this talk about the Windows 7 Starter Edition rather humorous.

LOL.  Even more humorous since XP Starter Edition was the same way. LOL LOL LOL.

there was also a windows XP Starter

its for 3rd world countries and is sold for next to nothing.

nothing new here, move along.

You look at the list of Windows 7 at retail? 2... that's all we will see... the higher end will be for ethusist and buisnesses the rest of us with either get the Windows 7 with WMC or without it.... that's the diffrence for the Home and Home Premium on Vista. Also apps are not the same as services... your antiviruses haven't been apps in over a decade so you can stop acting like fools who just picked up their first computer this millinium. Also there were sever version os "DOS" MS-DOS and PC-DOS were the most common basic DOSes, but UNIX is also a DOS... hell even the 9x and MEs were only shells on top of MS-DOS.

I do think that the various flavors of Windows 7 is confusing; however, it is potentially good for consumers who will not need to pay for features they do not want. I'm assuming that MS will also allow you to upgrade any version of Windows 7 to a more feature complete version.

However, MS will need to keep an eye on OEM's that might try to cut costs by selling Windows 7 Starter and then blame MS for the lack of functionality. I doubt any large OEM would do this but a smaller OEM or a mom & pop shop might.

God, this has to be one of the most unfair criticisms of MS. Plain trolling.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2340431,00.asp

Six versions of Windows 7? Why so many?
Well, technically, there could be more. Microsoft is still bound under a 2004 EU ruling to deliver an "N" version to the EU without Windows Media Player. Realistically, however, we would guess that a single Windows 7 "N" SKU will ship to EU customers, making it a total of seven.

But according to Microsoft, the new versions try to strike a balance between complexity and what customers will actually require.

"When you have a customer base of more than one billion, two options can't satisfy all of their varied needs," according to Microsoft. "For that reason, we will continue to offer a few targeted SKUs for customers with specialized needs: For price-sensitive customers with small notebook PCs, some OEMs will offer Windows 7 Starter. For customers in emerging markets, we will make Windows 7 Home Basic available.

Businesses have two recommended choices: Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Enterprise. Windows 7 Professional is recommended for small businesses and Windows 7 Enterprise is recommended for mid- and large-sized businesses that have a Software Assurance Agreement with Microsoft."

So what versions will I able to buy in a store?
Consumers will only be able to buy either Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Professional at retail—and deliberately so; Microsoft wants to try and limit consumer confusion by only putting the two versions in front of consumers.

Windows 7 Ultimate will be included on both discs, but will require a user to go through the upgrade process, either online or offline, to access them.

Except for Windows 7 Starter, each version will be available in either a 32-bit or 64-bit version.

It should also be noted that Microsoft sees the progression as a good-better-best scenario: Home Basic is better than Starter, and Home Premium is better than Home Basic. Windows 7 Professional is positioned as a step up from Home Premium, and the Enterprise and Ultimate editions are the premium Windows 7 offerings.

I'm so glad I don't use Windows anymore.

They are just differentiating the SKUs to raise the average selling price.