I'm not so sure about these HUGE amounts of RAM. 2.5 years ago 2GB was plenty. Now it's 4GB. I don't think about that as a doubling in 2.5 years, rather adding 2GB.
In another 2.5 years it could just as well be 6GB rather than 8GB, and in 5 years 8GB rather than 16GB.
If there's one thing we've seen over the last ~3 years it's hardware developing faster than software. The jump from 4GB to 8GB, a whole extra 4GB is huge, what software will need an extra 4GB?
I'm confident that the 16GB limit on Home Premium isn't going to be an issue for the vast majority of people here within the lifetime of the Windows 7 product.
In another 2.5 years it could just as well be 6GB rather than 8GB, and in 5 years 8GB rather than 16GB.
If there's one thing we've seen over the last ~3 years it's hardware developing faster than software. The jump from 4GB to 8GB, a whole extra 4GB is huge, what software will need an extra 4GB?
I'm confident that the 16GB limit on Home Premium isn't going to be an issue for the vast majority of people here within the lifetime of the Windows 7 product.