Confusing? Actually we are talking about "Windows 7 Starter Edition" here which should be better called "Windows 7 Restricted Edition".
Why? As we all know previous Windows Starter Editions didn't allow users to open more than 3 programs simultaneously and the same restrictions is found in recently leaked Windows 7 Starter Edition Build 7068.
But the most irritating and surprising thing in Windows 7 Starter Edition is the restriction over changing Desktop Wallpaper.
Windows 7 Starter Edition contains a grayed-out version of default Windows 7 beta wallpaper showing the fish on Desktop.
And the worst thing is, users are not allowed to change the wallpaper. There is no "Personalize" option in Desktop context menu:
Also no other ways to change wallpaper works like changing wallpaper using Windows Photo Gallery, web browser, etc. That's really strange and hard to understand why Microsoft restricted such a basic feature even free Linux distros allow to change wallpapers.
Also there are no extra wallpapers in Starter Edition.
Thanks to "Paul Thurrott" @ SuperSite who installed the recently leaked Windows 7 Build 7068 and tested all different editions like Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate and found this interesting restriction in Starter Edition.
Also "Rafael" @ WithinWindows describes how this restriction works in Windows 7 Starter Edition. He posts:
In Windows 7, a new licensing bit was introduced – ChangeDesktopBackground-Enabled. On Starter Edition SKUs, this bit is set to 0, disabling background setting capabilities in Windows Photo Viewer and the Display/Theme Control Panel applets. The infection goes deeper into system files shell32.dll and themeui.dll too, hard-coding the wallpaper to %windir%\web\wallpaper\windows\img0.jpg.
He also posts a workaround for it:
1. As an Administrator, reset the permissions on img0.jpg, and overwrite file with any other picture
2. Use third-party software (note: changes will likely not persist, untested)
So what would you like to call it: Windows 7 Starter Edition or Windows 7 Restricted Edition?
PS: I can find only one reason behind it. Since Starter Edition is form OEMs, they might put their own customized wallpaper and lock it so that users can't change it and OEMs can have their branded wallpaper on all machines.
This article was posted in Windows 7.
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Piyush
what the hell is Microsoft trying to do with their Starter Edition... i mean why would a person even think of buying it.. this is something that is not expected from Microsoft.
goldi
VG how to enable all this edition? means i have 7068 build win 7 ultimate but doesn't found starter , home & business/professional build in it. How to get that?
informale
that's totally crazy. Microsoft went completely berserk with the licensing stuff...
Ron
Seems to me like they are testing a few things out. It is still in beta, so lets not jump to conclusions about what will be.
Look at how users are able to mimic Windows 7 in XP. it is almost a decade old OS, and people can have it perform almost the same as a future version. That is amazing. I think they are just messing around. I really hope Microsoft throws everyone a curve ball and introduces a totally different version of Windows 7 ( which technically isn't the 7th ) to the public.
It will be interesting to say the least, to finally see what it will end up being like.
Xonrick
I think they are going to blow their one chance on proving that they are better than apple..
3v4n
how dumb...Who would even buy that? you could obtain a Linux distro for free, and it would most likely have 10x more features, and wine could help it run any program that you could run on that.
Patrick
Can I have a dowload link to that Wallpaper.
Ron
@Evan
Your posts on this website are neither helpful nor informative. I find you childish and inexperienced.
To answer your well phrased question; "Who would even buy that?", the same people who wish to run an operating system that is both functional out of the box and user friendly. Linux might have 100s of times more choices in regards to software, but it is far from being superior to Windows in usability.
Ron
Dear Vishal,
Has there been any workarounds for this "max 3 program" feature?
I find the wallpaper solution quite clever yet quite simple.
This comment on the WithinWindows site sounded like a likely reason to me:
Ilia Jerebtsov March 29, 2009 at 8:18 am
This is kinda interesting. The main reason I’d imagine them doing something like this is if they’re posing themselves to offer this version of Windows as a sort of a demo… Maybe even for free. In which case, that would be a pretty good move on MS’s side.
I am quite happy right now with my Vista, but it won't stop me from at least trying it out when it finally arrives.
MMG
I think Microsoft has entered into secret deal with Linux.
so they deliberately make irritating products so more people can switch to Ubantu, Fedora and Knoppix!