5 ms·
I think Microsoft is going to catch a great deal of flack for this one. I can't imagine how they came up with the idea that people use 2 apps at a time on avera
by jdoliner 18y ago
I think Microsoft is going to catch a great deal of flack for this one. I can't imagine how they came up with the idea that people use 2 apps at a time on average. Even if this is true on average, every user will at some point want to use more than 3. Being told by your computer you can't do so will infuriat Windows. And windows can't afford to infuriat its users. Not its users who only stick around because the environment is so comfortable.
This move has another interesting consequence. The simple hack for beating this limit is to use your web browser for everything possible (which is actually almost everything). Are starter users going to wind up using google docs instead of office to save having an extra application open?
- ijntybvrt 18y agoIt also says this will only be sold in none-developed markets. It's a way of selling cheap(free) copies of windows in China/India to reduce piracy while still protecting the market of business customers.
- jdoliner 18y agoOh, I actually hadn't noticed that part. Honestly I think a 3 app limit will anger pirates so much that their propensity to pirate will be just as high as if they didn't have the option for the cheap to free version. Microsoft's methods of price discrimination are less dimwitted than we give them credit for. But I think this one really is as bad as it seems.
- whughes 18y agoThat might apply in a developed environment where piracy is essentially free aside from bandwidth. We're talking a 'buy bootleg CD from the local market' type of piracy, where price competition + some benefits may be a tenable strategy. People aren't pirating out of anger or stinginess - they're pirating because the official discs are a month's salary.
- zvikara 18y agoFast forward to Windows 8 starter edition, where windows limits you to 3 browser tabs.