Windows 7 Restricted Edition

Confusing? Actually we are talking about "Windows 7 Starter Edition" here which should be better called "Windows 7 Restricted Edition". Why? As we all know previous Windows Starter Editions didn't allow users to open more than 3 programs simultaneously and the same restrictions is found in recently leaked Windows 7 Starter Edition Build 7068.

But the most irritating and surprising thing in Windows 7 Starter Edition is the restriction over changing Desktop Wallpaper.
Windows 7 Starter Edition contains a grayed-out version of default Windows 7 beta wallpaper showing the fish on Desktop.

And the worst thing is, users are not allowed to change the wallpaper. There is no "Personalize" option in Desktop context menu:

Also no other ways to change wallpaper works like changing wallpaper using Windows Photo Gallery, web browser, etc. That's really strange and hard to understand why Microsoft restricted such a basic feature even free Linux distros allow to change wallpapers.
Also there are no extra wallpapers in Starter Edition.
Thanks to "Paul Thurrott" who installed the recently leaked Windows 7 Build 7068 and tested all different editions like Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate and found this interesting restriction in Starter Edition.
Also "Rafael" @ WithinWindows describes how this restriction works in Windows 7 Starter Edition. He posts:

In Windows 7, a new licensing bit was introduced – ChangeDesktopBackground-Enabled. On Starter Edition SKUs, this bit is set to 0, disabling background setting capabilities in Windows Photo Viewer and the Display/Theme Control Panel applets. The infection goes deeper into system files shell32.dll and themeui.dll too, hard-coding the wallpaper to %windir%\web\wallpaper\windows\img0.jpg.

He also posts a workaround for it:

1. As an Administrator, reset the permissions on img0.jpg, and overwrite file with any other picture
2. Use third-party software (note: changes will likely not persist, untested)

Posted in: win 7