Windows 7 Starter vs. Home Premium: What's the Difference?

Windows 7 Starter Edition

If you have Windows 7 Starter, you are likely running it on a netbook, as Microsoft does not officially sell Windows 7 Starter. Instead, computer manufacturers such as Acer, Dell, and HP sell netbooks with Windows 7 Starter installed. Starter is basically a stripped down version of Windows 7 Home Premium, with some features missing. In fact, it is a bit too stripped down for most people, as Windows 7 Starter has received countless negative reviews, and has held high criticism since its first release. Many netbook manufacturers have eliminated Starter from their lineups, replacing it with Windows 7 Home Premium.

Windows 7 Starter vs. Windows 7 Home Premium

As far as differences between Windows 7 Starter and Home Premium, there are a lot. Windows 7 Starter is limited from Home Premium in that it does not have:

Aero Glass themes. With Windows 7 Starter, you can only use Windows Basic or other opaque themes. With Aero themes, you have the ability to use taskbar previews (hover over an icon in the taskbar to preview) and Aero Peek (a convenient way of flipping through Windows and apps). Windows 7 Starter does not support these features.
The ability to change desktop backgrounds, Windows colors, or default Windows alert sounds.
Easy switch between different user accounts without logging off.
Dual or Multi monitor capabilities.
DVD Playback compatibility.
Windows Media Center.
Media streaming capabilities, allowing you to stream music, videos, or television.
XP Mode, used for running a Windows XP virtual machine inside of Windows 7.
Multiple app support (some versions of Starter).

Now, that is a whole lot of features that Windows 7 Starter does not have, compared to Windows 7 Home Premium. Plus, Windows 7 Home Premium is the most basic of all Windows versions that Microsoft officially sells to consumers. This means that the difference between Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate would be even greater.

Windows 7 Starter for Netbooks - Things to Consider

Now, the list of lacking features above does say a lot about how basic Windows 7 Starter is. However, considering the fact that Windows 7 Starter is for netbooks, you may want to keep the following in mind.
Windows 7 Starter is limited from Home Premium in that it does not have:

Aero Glass themes. With Windows 7 Starter, you can only use Windows Basic or other opaque themes. With Aero themes, you have the ability to use taskbar previews (hover over an icon in the taskbar to preview) and Aero Peek (a convenient way of flipping through Windows and apps). Windows 7 Starter does not support these features.

Are Windows 7 Aero themes a necessity for netbooks? Even more importantly, does your netbook have strong enough graphics to officially support Windows 7 Aero themes should you choose to upgrade to Home Premium? Although Windows 7 Aero effects are cool, and look cool, they may not carry as strong of an effect on a netbook as most netbooks have a 10.1" screen.