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TechSpot RSSMicrosoft
Windows 7 to be sold on USB drives?
Microsoft is reportedly considering offering Windows 7 on USB thumb drives so that netbook owners can upgrade their machines. The company had planned to offer Windows 7 via DVDs and download, but the proliferation of these optical-drive-lacking machines apparently has Redmond looking for alternative means of distributing its operating system.
Of course, there are ways of getting Windows 7 onto a netbook. Buyers with an external DVD drive can simply hook it up to their netbook, for example, or those purchasing the downloadable version could load it on their own USB drive. However, the idea is to make installation on netbooks easier for the less tech-savvy, and avoid paying a tech support guy to get the job done for them.
Microsoft has yet to confirm or deny such a move, but the company has previously gone out their way to emphasize how any version of Windows 7 will run on a netbook; so naturally they want to capitalize on the market’s popularity. According to CNet, this is just one of several things Microsoft has looked at to try and make it more convenient to upgrade machines that don't come with CD or DVD drives.
Of course, there are ways of getting Windows 7 onto a netbook. Buyers with an external DVD drive can simply hook it up to their netbook, for example, or those purchasing the downloadable version could load it on their own USB drive. However, the idea is to make installation on netbooks easier for the less tech-savvy, and avoid paying a tech support guy to get the job done for them.
Microsoft has yet to confirm or deny such a move, but the company has previously gone out their way to emphasize how any version of Windows 7 will run on a netbook; so naturally they want to capitalize on the market’s popularity. According to CNet, this is just one of several things Microsoft has looked at to try and make it more convenient to upgrade machines that don't come with CD or DVD drives.
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User Comments (22)
Post a comment| AndrestheBean on June 26, 2009 7:16 PM | this is going to be interesting, i thought most machines couldn't boot from a usb port. |
| Guest on June 26, 2009 8:10 PM | thats history now most machines can boot with usb drives. |
| supersmashbrada on June 26, 2009 8:14 PM | I have 3 computers, dating back to 05, they all boot up with usb, so does my mothers which she bought in 02 |
| Rick on June 26, 2009 8:46 PM | i thought most machines couldn't boot from a usb
port. That hasn't been true since 2000.
|
| Guest on June 26, 2009 9:52 PM | LoL, If you PC can’t boot to USB shouldn’t it be the time to upgrade? |
| gobbybobby on June 27, 2009 5:54 AM | This is a step forward. Its about time peole got rid of optical media. Its stupid now really. MS are allready going that way with the xbox by allowing people to download full xbox 360 games over their online gameing service. (well they are ment to by next year) Most if not all PC can boot from USB, it might just mean you have to enter bios and tell it to boot from there, im sure tech savy people can suss that one with an instruction booklet. |
| T77 on June 27, 2009 9:31 AM | nice step that can be taken by ms. would highly benefit netbook users. |
| JDoors on June 27, 2009 10:51 AM | I can see this as the future of retail software distribution. Prices for thumbdrives will have to come down a bit more, but optical disks are getting to be a pain. |
| Rick on June 27, 2009 12:09 PM | Prices for thumbdrives will have to come down a bit
more An 8GB flash chip costs manufacturers less than
$10.Given the insane markup MS gets for selling Windows, I think they could absorb the cost without much issue. Also, if there is a day when all software starts being sold on physical flash drives, flash will become less available and prices will go up very sharply. |
| tekkaraiden on June 27, 2009 9:29 PM | Sounds like a great idea, especially seeing the current price of flash memory. |
| raybay on June 27, 2009 9:32 PM | There is so much baloney floating around about Windows 7, that none of it can be relied upon... either they are market-testing, or some little ol ladies are spreading their worry jam for no useful purpose. |
| supersmashbrada on June 27, 2009 10:08 PM | It would be cool if you could just download your new os from
MS to your flash drive then run it. Would be a simple
purchase, not sure how retailers would like this.
Its getting to the point where us computer fans dont mind not having a physical copy of a specific item, digital copy will do just fine(fine enough for us that's smart enough to back up our information) and I see this being a really good thing. |
| hellokitty[hk] on June 28, 2009 12:10 AM | I don't think you would need to boot off a flash drive,
besides thats too "tech savvy", you need to know what a BIOS
is! I'm pretty sure it would be more like this asuming "netbook owners can upgrade their machines." and they already have an MS OS on: 1). Plug in USB drive. 2). Wait for autorun, click next... |
| JDoors on June 28, 2009 12:30 PM | Rick said: An 8GB flash chip costs manufacturers less
than $10. Ten
dollars vs pennies for an optical disk ... ? Yeah, MS is
rich as all get out, why wouldn't they just suck that up?
Because they're a business and would like to remain
one.Given the insane markup MS gets for selling Windows, I think they could absorb the cost without much issue. Also, if there is a day when all software starts being sold on physical flash drives, flash will become less available and prices will go up very sharply. If there is a day when all software starts being sold on flash drives ... that day would ONLY occur if the price came down enough to match optical disks, which would require manufacturing capacity to meet the demand. The only way prices would go up is if no one ever increased the production, efficiency or capacity of flash drives. That's not likely. |
| Rick on June 28, 2009 1:22 PM | The only way prices would go up is if
no one ever increased the production, efficiency or capacity
of flash drives. That's not likely. It may not be a
permanent thing, but we already see supply shortages and the
prices of flash and RAM can be pretty inconsistent over the
span of a year: Now, just imagine if every major software
were shipped via flash media.
Ten dollars vs pennies for an
optical disk ... ? Yeah, MS is rich as all get out, why
wouldn't they just suck that up? Because they're a business
and would like to remain one. I agree with this, but
they can certainly pass the cost to the consumer if they'd
like. It could also be a separate, more expensive package or
by request only... But I would hope they'd absorb at least
*some* of the cost, because they certainly aren't losing
money on Windows.Personally, I think the future of software is online distribution and not physical distribution. We can't realistically do that until everyone has a decent connection though, which is pretty far down the road still. An example might be downloading some USB bootable version of Windows and having an installer put it on your own USB... or some sort of standardized image that can just be copied to the root of a flash drive and a standard feature in BIOSes which can actually recognize and boot to it -- kind of like Macs can with .DMG images when copied to root of a drive. |
| Guest on June 29, 2009 2:22 AM | Windows 7 and the "I'm A P(iece of chinese)C(rap)" is so
totally bogus. I can only chuckle at the billion$ that
Windose hypnotards toss to Microbaloney for a fixed version
of Vistaline that was already a complete RIPOFF to begin
with  ))~ . And then only to receive an OS where most of
the development effort has gone into protecting it from
their own (half witted) users! Meanwhile, Apple just
continues to enhance a fantastic eloquent single version
UNLIMITED OS which is three times as enjoyable to use as the
already outdated Microsoft OSX-mimicking-mess at 1/3 the
cost and confusion of the so-called "Unlimited" Micropoop
Windumb offering.USB Drive, DVD, download or whatever - Ballmer really loves to give it to you up the A and you all just bend over. (falls out of chair laughing....) |
| geechiesway on June 29, 2009 8:22 AM | another pointless post from a mac fanboy full of half-truths....*yawn* |
| JDoors on June 29, 2009 10:58 AM | Rick said: I agree to
some extent. I'd be tempted to pay ten bucks more per
software distribution, but my inner cheapskate would likely
rule that out ... at this point in
time.Ten dollars vs
pennies for an optical disk ... ? Yeah, MS is rich as all
get out, why wouldn't they just suck that up? Because
they're a business and would like to remain one. I
agree with this, but they can certainly pass the cost to the
consumer if they'd like. It could also be a separate, more
expensive package or by request only... But I would hope
they'd absorb at least *some* of the cost, because they
certainly aren't losing money on Windows. Personally, I think the future of
software is online distribution and not physical
distribution. We can't realistically do that until everyone
has a decent connection though, which is pretty far down the
road still. ... Eventually, sure. But there are way
too many roadblocks just now; many people are on dial-up
(it's easy to forget that when you've had high speed for a
long time), you'd have to trust that; your computer will
always work, your online connection will always be up, and
the same for the software distriubter; and many people want
the "hard copy" of something they paid good money for (I'm
one of 'em). |
| jink on June 29, 2009 1:20 PM | geechiesway, that fellow's english is terrible. But fanboy or not, his points have merit. To get to the FULL version of Windows 7 (through the arguably half-baked Vista) from XP will have cost many of us upwards of 500$! And all that time OSX has been quite modern, savvy, affordable, and painless relative to what we've had to go through (granted that you have to run it on relatively expensive Apple hardware to be legal though - but they do have nice hardware). Microsoft would have truly cemented their client-base had they offered a (almost) free upgrade path for Vista users - but I'm really left more and more with the feeling that they are *shysters*. |
| raybay on June 29, 2009 3:00 PM | Oh, you are so smart, and "...Windose hypnotards toss to
Microbaloney for a fixed version of Vistaline that was
already a complete RIPOFF to begin with..." is quite a
mouthful... Why are you registered as Guest for well over 100 posts, and no detail on your little self... do you, too, have something to keep secret? or is it because nobody wants to know? If you are an Apple person, why do you spend so much time here? |
| Guest on June 29, 2009 4:43 PM | That's no way to treat a Guest! Where are your manners sir! |
| geechiesway on June 30, 2009 3:45 PM | jink said: $500? how? better go get that $100 Windows 7
Pro upgrade...
geechiesway, that fellow's english is terrible. But fanboy or not, his points have merit. To get to the FULL version of Windows 7 (through the arguably half-baked Vista) from XP will have cost many of us upwards of 500$! |
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