Apple Thoughts: MS's 'Choice:' No Wallpaper Changing in Windows 7 Starter

"Chances are good that almost everyone download and installing the freshly-leaked Windows 7 build 7068 ISO is installing Ultimate Edition - after all, it's the one our product keys work with and it'll run for over year with a valid key. Paul Thurrott, however, has taken the pains of installing each version- including Starter - to get a feel for what's coming. We already knew that Starter would be extremely feature-limited. How full an experience would you expect from an OS that can only run three programs at once? Regardless, one feature has been crippled that has a lot of people confused. In Windows 7 Starter Edition, the personalization option on the context menu isn't available. Worse yet, users can't even change their wallpaper."

Okay, it's not like anyone being reasonable was expecting a full-blown experience from something called "Starter Edition." Seriously. The problem is that changing wallpapers is one of the most basic things people do to customize their computer. In fact, for most people (like myself) that's all the customization that ever happens. I run stock themes on all of my computers and change wallpapers every three months or so; I'm not a huge tweaker that way. But to take even that away from consumers sounds, to me, just flat out stupid. I would say "imagine if Apple had done this," but I reckon that really is already floating through a lot of your minds already.

I have a feeling this will change before the release just based on the negative buzz it's attracting from the folks I've seen writing about it.

The linked article has a workaround for you, if you're toying with Starter Edition, because, as everyone knows, in a life without walls, you don't really need wallpaper, right?