When Mac clone maker Psystar started shipping hardware complete with a jury rigged copy of the Leopard operating system , many observers predicted the operation would quickly be shuttered by an Apple legal challenge. According to widespread reports, Apple’s end user license agreement bars running their OS on anything but genuine Apple hardware. Enter Microsoft which according to this story today from PC World is launching a program to provide lower cost versions of Windows XP Home to manufacturers provided they limit the hardware hard disk size to no larger than 80 GB, single core processors of no more than 1GHZ, no more than 1GB RAM, the screen size to 10.2 inches and bar the use of touch-screens. Is it just me or does this Microsoft restriction come dangerously close to mirroring the same type of influence that Apple exerts over their OS. Granted Microsoft doesn’t directly benefit from imposing these restrictions, but because the limitations could bar purchasers from stripping out the Windows XP Home OS and loading an Open Source OS, it seems a tad restrictive.

Via: PC World – Microsoft to Limit Capabilities of Cheap Laptops