Windows 7 Will Only Have One ‘Ready’ Sticker, Down From Vista’s Four

After receiving endless flak for their silly tiered Vista Compatibility scheme, Microsoft has decided to issue a single “Windows 7 Capable” sticker for hardware that works with the new OS. That means no more “Windows Home Basic”, “Windows Ready”, “Certified for Windows” and “Windows Ready When You Are, Asshole” labels slapped on every piece of hardware in the computer aisle at Best Buy.

During the same conference in which this was announced, Microsoft demonstrated Windows 7 on a modestly spec’d Eee netbook, so it looks like Windows 7 compatibility might be taken for granted with most new PCs. Microsoft did tell the Register that there would be different stickers for touchscreen and media centre devices. While the touchscreen sticker will be a convenient indicator that a device is touch-capable, what will media centre sticker mean? That a computer has an HDMI output? That marketing asked for it? Also, one=three, apparently. [The Register]