Microsoft Removes Windows 7's "Crippleware" 3 App Limit
A reversal seemed highly likely from the moment Microsoft announced a 3 application limit in the Windows 7 Starter Edition OS planned for netbooks. You could practically hear the industry utter a collective boo even before the electronic ink was dry on that Microsoft decision. Credit Paul Thurrott who got the goods about Microsoft removing the app limit.
The 3 app limit (max of 3 applications running concurrently) was Microsoft's way of stopping users from taking W7 Starter Edition and running it on more powerful hardware, figuring netbook users could get by with just running 3 apps concurrently. It may even be questionable whether most netbooks can run much more than 3 apps anyway. (I'm still not convinced networks will be much more than a very small niche part the market, but then again, that's for a different blog post. ) But the last thing Microsoft needs to do is help out full featured netbook contender Linux, by imposing seemingly capricious limitations like the 3 app limit.
