<p>Stone Group, manufacturers of hardware for the education industry, issued a warning today to all schools with netbook PCs as part of their mobile learning setup. The company is urging these schools to re-evaluate their future plans, as the Window 7 Starter operating system phase out makes way for Microsoft Windows 8.</p><p>On October 26th, with the release of Microsoft Windows 8, the netbook-specific Windows 7 Starter operating system is going end-of-life. As a result, netbooks will face a cost increase of at least 40.00 per device going forward. Offering little comfort to those with site-wide Microsoft licensing agreements, the subsequent qualifying entry point for volume licensing customers wishing to run Windows 7 Professional or Windows 8 Professional will be Windows 8 which carries the same cost increase.</p><p>It has been suggested that this may signal a faster decline in the use of netbooks in schools and lead to faster adoption of alternatives such as ultra-slim notebooks, tablets, parental contribution schemes and even Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies.</p><p>The changes to netbook licensing affects any educational institutions that have a Microsoft volume licensing agreement.</p><p><a href="http://www.edexec.co.uk/news/2192/schools-are-warned-of-sudden-netbook-price-increase-ahead-of-windows-8-launch/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.themobileindian.com/news/8855_20-Windows-8-tablets-lined-up-for-launch">20 Windows 8 tablets lined up for launch</a> (The Mobile Indian)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dTYGFIxxum4lPxMmZ0I3t8GaDwm-M&ned=us">284 additional articles.</a></p>