Windows 7 Starter: A Few Observations

New netbooks seem to come with either WinXP or Win7 Starter edition - "starter" being the key word. There are a lot of Win7 features that aren't available on this edition. Most I haven't noticed yet (since I've never used Win7 full edition before) but 3 are glaringly obvious.

First I can't change my desktop wallpaper from the default, which is black. Nor can I change the startup screen, although I kinda like it so that's not a problem. But I like having an inspirational desktop that I change regularly. While not exactly a problem, there are workarounds. One is that I could use the slideshow "gadget" and just have an inspirational picture. Then there are some apps that I read about yesterday. I opted to try the 2nd option first but it didn't work; I didn't get the new menu on the desktop when I right-clicked. Today I will uninstall that program and try the other one.

The other thing I don't like about Windows7 Starter is that everything is pastel. There is a limited selection of themes available; however, while I don't need the highest-contrast themes to be able to see what I need, the pastel is difficult to make out for me. I could go back to the Windows Classic theme but frankly, I want something different with this different o/s. By typing [themes] (without the brackets) into the "search programs and files" box, I get a window where I can select from the half-dozen themes allotted to starter edition users. Clicking on advanced gives me some limited color choices, and that's what I'm "messing with" to see if I can make things more visible for myself.

Of course, there's always the upgrade option that's included. For a special price I can upgrade to the Home edition of Win7, and apparently that's rather simple and quick to do using the Windows Anytime Upgrader. I may or may not do this at some point (read: I may or may not be able to afford this at some point), but it's nice knowing the option is there, quick, and easy if I can't manage the workarounds for the first 2 lacking features.

The 3rd is the lack of an email client, ie, OE, which I have used for years without a problem. I'm rather fanatic about how I archive my emails, and have an elaborate folder system that I've always used. Win7 offers Windows Live Email which is a lot different to use as far as archiving. I couldn't just set up folders, for example, as each account has its own folders. For example, I get low-carb-related emails from several email accounts, but I want all of them to be stored in a single "Low Carb" folder. Impossible with WLE. Ugh. So here's what I did:

First I set all of my email accounts to forward to a single address which I called Incoming. Then I set up my Incoming account, and added all of the folders (Low Carb, Friends, Family, LBD, Pets, Tech, etc.) to that one account. YAY! Problem solved! Um, not quite. I found out when I wanted to send an email that I still had to set up the other accounts so that I could send from them. But since I don't send from all of them, I only needed to set up 3 in WLE, and I unticked the "Include this account when receiving mail or synchronizing" box. I can still check it manually to make sure nothing slipped past the forwarding, but I only have to sync one email account, and then I can archive my mails to my heart's content.

I will post again when I have anything to add. Thanks for reading :).