Windows 7 aims for netbooks as well as PCs

Choice was the watchword in the Windows 7 discussion Wednesday, as Microsoft aimed to highlight what it sees as its chief advantage over rival Apple.

Senior vice president, Steven Sinofsky, said in a speech at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC): "A key part of Windows 7 is to enable a full spectrum of choices."

While the new Windows will enable high-end machines with multitouch, it will also work on low-end machines. While Vista has largely been absent in the fast-growing netbook category, Windows 7 is aimed to work well on such low-end devices - a number of which are on display at WinHEC.

Among the machines Microsoft showed was an Eee PC with a 1GB hard drive and a 16GB solid-state drive, which the software maker said could run Windows 7 with "room to spare".

For hardware makers, Microsoft has a feature called "device stage" that lets them offer up things like manuals, links to services, and access to content stored on the device in one place.

On stage, Microsoft showed a Nokia phone hooked up to Windows 7, automatically making available all the content on the device.

The company also said it will support a number of additional audio and video formats out of the box, including DivX, H.264 and unprotected AAC.

Windows 7 also has integrated support for sensors, such as light sensors, accelerometers or GPS, or even more exotic kinds of input. For example, Microsoft showed a ThinkPad with a spectrophotometer to help handle colour calibration.

Sinofsky also noted that even though Microsoft has put a lot of focus on touch, it is not abandoning its Tablet PC work. Ray Ozzie last week told TechFlash that touch can be mainstream, while Tablet PC was "truly niche", a description that apparently irked the Tablet PC enthusiast crowd.

As for when Windows 7 will actually be available, Microsoft didn't offer new details beyond saying a feature-complete beta will be available in early 2009.

Sinofsky did mention a "release candidate to RTM phase", suggesting that Microsoft is only planning a single beta.

Original article: Windows 7 takes center 'stage' from CNET News.com