How to install Windows 7 on Netbooks
Windows 7 Home, Professional, Ultimate Editions
October 22nd marks another day in the history of Windows Operating Systems. Windows 7, which I honestly haven’t tried yet, is officially released for everyone and available for purchase for as low as $199.99 for Windows 7 Home Premium Edition – the cheapest and most commendable version for your netbooks. Also available are the Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate Editions for $299.99 and $319.99 respectively. The Starter Edition is not on the list, sorry.
Windows 7 offers many improvements such as:
- Faster Performance
- Desktop Enhancements
- H0me Media Streaming
- Windows Search and
- Better Device Management
Microsoft understands the lack of Optical Disc Drive on Netbooks so they provided an option to download the ISO copy of the purchased version, and create a bootable USB flash drive. Tools to achieve this, which is the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool {WUDT}, is also available for download. So basically, all you need to have to be able to install Windows 7 on your netbook is a copy of Windows 7, and the tool.
How to install Windows 7 on netbooks:
- Purchase and download a copy of Windows 7, version of your choosing
- Download the WUDT
- Install the tool on your netbook
- Click the Windows Start button, and click Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool in the All Programs list to open the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool.
- In the Source File box, type the name and path of your Windows 7 ISO file, or click Browse and select the file in the Open dialog box.
- Select USB to create a copy on a USB flash drive or DVD to create a copy on a DVD disk, then click Next.
- If you are copying the file to a USB flash drive, select your USB device in the dropdown list and click Begin copying. If you are copying the file up to a DVD, click Begin burning.
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System Requirements
- Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit)
- Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is recommended)
- 50MB of free space on your hard drive
- DVD-R drive or 4GB removable USB flash drive
Which Edition of Windows 7 Would you want netbooks to have?
Windows 7 is the latest OS from Microsoft which is currently planned to become available on June 2009. This is also the most awaited OS for Developers, Techies, and everyone else. Samsung and HP have expressed a little bit of hints that their upcoming netbooks will more likely include versions with Windows 7. Both are considering the cost of the new OS, which is likely going to be pricey for netbooks. And since one of the main reason why netbooks shares a big part on the market is its low cost, Windows 7 might significantly affect the new price, which might mean lesser consumers will buy netbooks with that OS, which might lead to significant decrease on market share as well.
But when fair negotiation between netbook makers and Microsoft bare the best deal, and let’s hope for it, which edition of Windows 7 would you want netbooks to have?
According to HP, which did some testing on different editions of Windows 7, their netbook will likely run only 3 versions. Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional are said to be the most suitable, although other editions also run pretty well on the minis. This might also be true for other netbooks since they are mostly powered by same CPU and chipsets.
Windows 7 Starter Edition
Most affordable edition
Runs well on netbooks
Limited to run 3 applications at a time only
No Aero Glass theme (not necessarily important)
Will only come in 32-bit edition
Windows 7 Home Premium
Likely the most suitable for netbooks
Comes with Aero Glass theme and Windows Media Center
Windows 7 Professional
Targets enthusiasts and small businesses
Includes all features in Home Premium Edition
Additional features include operating as a Remote Desktop server, location aware printing, Encrypting File System, and Presentation Mode
Now choose.
