In the ensuing decade, every major release of desktop Windows has come in a wide -- -- variety of flavors.
By one count, Windows XP and , if you include two Windows Media Player-free versions for anti-monopoly reasons.
Even Windows 2000, often , came in four versions.
This increase in Windows edition has bewildered many consumers, and led even ardent Windows fans to make dark jokes.
"I wonder whether will have 700 SKUs or if [Microsoft] will streamline that," Andrew Brust, a technology consultant and MVP, has said on his Twitter page.
Paul Thurrott, a , said, "It is laughable. It's such a brazen play on their part to juice people for as much money as they can get."
This MBA textbook-style attempt to maximize revenue by divvying up features by customer segment is actually hurting Microsoft, said , an independent analyst.
He said Microsoft's decision to strip Active Directory features from consumer versions of meant that workers running Macs at home or on personal laptops have an easier time hooking up to their corporate network than many Vista users.
That is helping Apple gain the , Enderle said.
"In effect, this screwy SKU thing has given Apple an advantage in enterprises that Microsoft has taken away from itself and probably will be one of the primary things slowing Windows 7 adoption" should it come in multiple editions, he said.
Will Windows 7 continue the 'SKU inflation'?
How many editions will Windows 7 come in? A recent beta release of Windows 7 lists five versions during the installation process:
Starter Edition, a stripped-down version for customers in developing countries running underpowered hardware that has been around since XP;
Home Basic, the controversial low-end consumer flavor introduced with Vista that Microsoft apparently debated whether or not to release;
Home Premium, also introduced with Vista;
Ultimate, introduced with Vista, the loaded-with-goodies version aimed at hard-core hobbyists;
Business, introduced with Vista as the replacement to Professional for corporate use.
A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed the five version names in the Windows 7 beta, but said they were only "preliminary."
"We will continue to take customer feedback from the beta test period into account as we refine the SKU set for Windows 7 and will share more information when we are further along the development path," the spokeswoman said in an e-mail.
Meanwhile, plans to make a single version of Windows 7 just for netbooks.
There is evidence, via a Microsoft job posting, that , as it once planned but abandoned for Vista, as well as , which already exists with Vista. There would also be two additional 'N' versions of Windows 7 for customers in the , which has signalled recently it may even demand Microsoft . In all, Windows 7 could therefore have as many as 10 editions.
Windows blogger Thurrott disagrees, arguing strongly that Microsoft will cut down on the proliferation in editions that hit an apex with XP and Vista. He notes that includes the locale-specific themes that, in XP and Vista, were only available in the Starter edition.
The public beta, which is of Windows 7 Ultimate, appears able to run on low-end hardware like netbooks, obviating the need to create a separate SKU for it, Thurrott said.
He said that he has also heard reports that Microsoft plans to cut the "useless" Home Basic, that the Business edition will eventually be renamed Professional and include Media Center features, and that an Enterprise edition would be eliminated and its features, such as desktop virtualization, offered as add-ons to interested corporate customers.
Thurrott believes Microsoft's best strategy is to release Windows 7 in just three versions (not including the EU-mandated ones): Home, Professional and Ultimate.
"Gosh, I really do hope so. If there were just three versions, no one would make fun of it," he said. "Five or seven versions, that's just crazy town."
Thurrott also thinks Microsoft should cut the price on all of its versions, as well as let customers install Windows on multiple PCs or virtual machines, as Apple does with Mac OS X.
He said he was hopeful for a reduction in editions because Steven Sinofsky, the Microsoft VP in charge of Windows 7's development, is "a simplicity maven."
Enderle, who , especially its decision to release Vista Home Basic, has a more quixotic hope.
"I think there should be one version of Windows which allows the OEMs [PC makers] more flexibility with regard to creating unique user experiences without breaking compatibility, and restores the ability of users to drive OS upgrades in the companies where they work," Enderle said in an e-mail.
"I'm not aware of another instance where a user-focused technology is specifically altered so a user can't bring it into their workplace," he said.
Computerworld's Gregg Keizer contributed to this story.