You might remember that Microsoft has already announced six distinct versions of its new Windows 7 operating system: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise. As if that weren't confusing enough, it looks like Microsoft is planning to release at least three more editions specifically for netbooks.

And to think we were just pondering which of the original six would be best for your netbook.

We don't know what the netbook versions will be called, but according to Bloomberg, there will be one very cheap version at multiple premium ones. After Microsoft suffered low profits when netbooks became hugely popular but had to skip the comparatively pricey Windows Vista run the less-resource intensive and cheaper Windows XP, the plan is to try to entice you to pick up the fancier, more expensive netbook versions of Windows 7 when you buy your new computer.

As many commentators note in the article at Bloomberg, this seems doomed to failure. Folks who buy netbooks usually just want to do web surfing and e-mail, and they want to spend as little money as possible. It seems unlikely that they'll shell out another $100 for operating system bells and whistles. We could be wrong though; maybe you've just got to have enterprise networking support in the high definition media center your netbook's processor can't even run. Maybe it's the principle of the thing?

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