Called "Starter," the OS will run only three apps at a time, and won't look as glitzy as Windows 7 (coming out this fall). A TBD upgrade scheme will be available, thereby keeping the initial cost of Starter low enough to get loaded onto cheap netbooks. This is intended to get Microsoft into that growth category without paying for it with profit margin.

Here's the rub, though: I don't think anybody wants to buy a "starter" anything. It sounds like a trial version, or sample, and not something that a user might rely upon for running a computer. I'm sure Microsoft focus group tested the name ad nauseam, but I say it says this branded product is somehow incomplete.

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