Rosoff expects Ultimate to embraced by businesses rather than enthusiasts, because they will seek to avoid locking themselves into a multi-year license agreement as is required by the Enterprise version.

Rather than cutting Home Basic altogether, Microsoft chose to sell it only in developing markets, where very-cheap PCs are in demand, Ybarra said. "[PC makers] need to hit multiple price points: good, better and best," he said.

Windows 7 Starter Edition is even more limited than Home Basic, allowing users to open only a maximum of three applications at any given time. "We felt that was the right way to go," Ybarra said, as this version will be aimed at new PC users.

While Microsoft is making Windows 7 Starter Edition available for netbooks worldwide, Ybarra expects the majority of PC makers to pre-install Windows 7 Home Premium anyway.

Rosoff agrees, saying that PCs shipped with Windows 7 Home Premium will likely cost about US$50 more than those with Starter.