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May 12, 2005 10:54 AM PDT
Windows for India, others won't run on faster chips
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The operating system will not work on computers running Intel's Pentium 4 processors or the Athlon from Advanced Micro Devices, a public relations representative said on behalf of Microsoft. Instead, it will run on computers containing Intel's Celeron chips, AMD's Duron or Geode chips, or processors from Via Technologies.
"When you try to load it onto a Pentium 4 machine, it gets to the processor ID and stops functioning," said P.R. Lakshmanan, senior vice president of Zenith Computers in Mumbai, India, who tried it as an experiment. Zenith is one of India's larger local PC makers. Starter Edition for India won't be released publicly until June.
Selective incompatibility appears to be geared at preventing Starter Edition from supplanting standard versions of Windows XP. Starter Edition doesn't support the same level of functionality as the standard Windows XP. However, PC makers have to pay only $15 to $35 for each copy, according to various PC makers in these markets. Windows XP Home costs $70 to $80 per copy and the Professional Edition costs even more.
Without the incompatibility, PC makers and dealers could potentially start bundling the OS onto computers for business customers. Microsoft does not sell the OS separately. It sells it only to PC makers, who then load it onto PCs.
"Windows XP Starter Edition is designed for beginner home computer users who are seeking a more affordable computing solution for their homes. As such, it is designed for low-cost, entry-level desktop PCs running value-based processors," a representative for Microsoft said in an e-mail.
Microsoft has released or will release versions of Starter Edition for Brazil, Malaysia, Russia, Indonesia, Thailand and India. These are some of the fastest-growing PC markets in the world, and the software is designed to make it easier for ordinary people in these markets to learn about computing.
Linux, though only a blip in the desktop market, is gaining popularity. In India, for instance, professor Jitendra Shah has translated a version of Linux and a number of applications into the regional languages of India to help villagers learn computing.
Microsoft hopes to use Starter Edition to familiarize these markets with its products. Plus, because these countries are also havens for piracy, the Redmond, Wash.-based software maker wants to use perks such as bug patches and alerts to demonstrate the value of legal software.
Sales, though, have been somewhat slow to date in the countries where Starter Edition has been released. Thailand PC makers have sold it since October, while the OS has been available in Malaysia and Indonesia since February.
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The arrogance, and short-sightedness of MS never ceases to amaze, surprise and amuse.
Really, cheap Starter Edition is for cheap hardware, for people who can't afford expensive computers, but if you are ready to spend your money on advanced hardware you probably can afford full version of XP Home Edition for extra $50.
The arrogance, and short-sightedness of MS never ceases to amaze, surprise and amuse.
Really, cheap Starter Edition is for cheap hardware, for people who can't afford expensive computers, but if you are ready to spend your money on advanced hardware you probably can afford full version of XP Home Edition for extra $50.
5 dollars ? (AntiActivation included)
Americans should stop thinking in American dollars and American income ! Here in Israel,
MS software is sold at the same price level as
in US which means for us 500$ - 700$ in terms
of money value !! Do you realy expect us to
pay those prices ??? In the countries mentioned
in the above article, the price is equivalent
to 1000 - 1500 $ ! The same with DVDs - for
you it's only 15$, for us is 100 ! Will you
buy a legal DVD title for 100$ ?
5 dollars ? (AntiActivation included)
Americans should stop thinking in American dollars and American income ! Here in Israel,
MS software is sold at the same price level as
in US which means for us 500$ - 700$ in terms
of money value !! Do you realy expect us to
pay those prices ??? In the countries mentioned
in the above article, the price is equivalent
to 1000 - 1500 $ ! The same with DVDs - for
you it's only 15$, for us is 100 ! Will you
buy a legal DVD title for 100$ ?
Frankly, it is becoming more and more obvious that Microsoft simply cannot, and will not, compete reasonably in any open-market.
So if they do not change their demand for obscene-profits and the absolute power to manipulate customers and abuse consumer-rights, there can only be one of two eventual outcomes:
1. Microsoft will suddenly have a smaller, and smaller, market-share and will collapse under its own inefficiency... You know... COMPETITION.
Or..,
2. Microsoft will manage to implement yet another market-domination regime upon consumers, ...possibly relying on the imposition of Trusted-Computing, and/or proprietary-technologies, and/or DRM, etc. etc., to effectively corral consumers back into Microsofts shackles, against their will.
In the end, it seems that Microsoft really is EVERYONES worst enemy, ...even themselves.
Post is full of hatred, doom and gloom, woe is the public.
Please have something more meaningful to say.
Frankly, it is becoming more and more obvious that Microsoft simply cannot, and will not, compete reasonably in any open-market.
So if they do not change their demand for obscene-profits and the absolute power to manipulate customers and abuse consumer-rights, there can only be one of two eventual outcomes:
1. Microsoft will suddenly have a smaller, and smaller, market-share and will collapse under its own inefficiency... You know... COMPETITION.
Or..,
2. Microsoft will manage to implement yet another market-domination regime upon consumers, ...possibly relying on the imposition of Trusted-Computing, and/or proprietary-technologies, and/or DRM, etc. etc., to effectively corral consumers back into Microsofts shackles, against their will.
In the end, it seems that Microsoft really is EVERYONES worst enemy, ...even themselves.
Post is full of hatred, doom and gloom, woe is the public.
Please have something more meaningful to say.
However, in the countries where is is being sold, computers are so expensive, as compared to people's income, that beginners rarely if ever buy one. Instead they save up for a few years, and in the meantime learn to use a computer at school, work, or internet cafes.
By the time they buy a computer, they are experienced and want a fully-functional OS. They can't afford legal fully-functional Windows, so they will go with either pirated Windows, or legal Linux.
However, in the countries where is is being sold, computers are so expensive, as compared to people's income, that beginners rarely if ever buy one. Instead they save up for a few years, and in the meantime learn to use a computer at school, work, or internet cafes.
By the time they buy a computer, they are experienced and want a fully-functional OS. They can't afford legal fully-functional Windows, so they will go with either pirated Windows, or legal Linux.
Only they did not do the research, a poor family is likely to get a loan to get a more powerful computer, rather than a low end one, in order to get a good one that everyone else would be using. They are likely to pay it off in a few years. It is an investment, and if they learn to use it, family members can get jobs working a computer for a business.
Besides, in a Foreign nation, prices are higher than in the USA for technology. When I visited Thailand in 2000, and I did the conversion to US dollars, people there were getting ripped off next to USA prices. Things like Playstations, DVD players, VCRs, etc were all higher as well. Expect that the $500 low end PC in the USA, costs $800 to $1000 in some foreign nations like Thailand. A person in Thailand is lucky to be able to earn $100 or more a month at a job. Yet families stick together and pool their earnings.
Despite not working on a P4, some foreign PC seller will sell a P4 system with an XP Starter Edition CD anyway and have the customer install it. What, it didn't work? No refunds. Want the Home Edition? That will be more money.
The primary goal (if not, it should be) of business is to meet the customer's needs, and provide customer satisfaction. Microsoft, apparently, is not doing a needs analysis here, and is basing things on conditions in the USA market, and projecting that into a Foreign market.
Yeah, crippled XP, like on Seinfeld when Elaine tried to sell muffin tops, and gave the bottoms to the homeless. Then the homeless rejected the muffin bottoms, and saw it as an insult. Microsoft, sell the whole muffin, and offer a discount for poor families. If possible cut out Media Player, and other crap that they possibly won't use, and replace with something else anyway. The more you try to control the market, the more of it that will slip through your fingers like water or sand.
Only they did not do the research, a poor family is likely to get a loan to get a more powerful computer, rather than a low end one, in order to get a good one that everyone else would be using. They are likely to pay it off in a few years. It is an investment, and if they learn to use it, family members can get jobs working a computer for a business.
Besides, in a Foreign nation, prices are higher than in the USA for technology. When I visited Thailand in 2000, and I did the conversion to US dollars, people there were getting ripped off next to USA prices. Things like Playstations, DVD players, VCRs, etc were all higher as well. Expect that the $500 low end PC in the USA, costs $800 to $1000 in some foreign nations like Thailand. A person in Thailand is lucky to be able to earn $100 or more a month at a job. Yet families stick together and pool their earnings.
Despite not working on a P4, some foreign PC seller will sell a P4 system with an XP Starter Edition CD anyway and have the customer install it. What, it didn't work? No refunds. Want the Home Edition? That will be more money.
The primary goal (if not, it should be) of business is to meet the customer's needs, and provide customer satisfaction. Microsoft, apparently, is not doing a needs analysis here, and is basing things on conditions in the USA market, and projecting that into a Foreign market.
Yeah, crippled XP, like on Seinfeld when Elaine tried to sell muffin tops, and gave the bottoms to the homeless. Then the homeless rejected the muffin bottoms, and saw it as an insult. Microsoft, sell the whole muffin, and offer a discount for poor families. If possible cut out Media Player, and other crap that they possibly won't use, and replace with something else anyway. The more you try to control the market, the more of it that will slip through your fingers like water or sand.
1. There ain't as many low end machine at it seems available for upgrades. No new user shall actually buy anything less than Pentium 4 now a day or athlon XP +.
2. Old machine wont upgrade. They are okay with there version/pirated version of Windows. Moreover microsoft wont give the cheaper version as upgrade.
3. They will find a crack for the OS to make it run on Intel Pentium 4. It shall than be sold as $3 per pirated copy!
oops there are three reason :)
1. There ain't as many low end machine at it seems available for upgrades. No new user shall actually buy anything less than Pentium 4 now a day or athlon XP +.
2. Old machine wont upgrade. They are okay with there version/pirated version of Windows. Moreover microsoft wont give the cheaper version as upgrade.
3. They will find a crack for the OS to make it run on Intel Pentium 4. It shall than be sold as $3 per pirated copy!
oops there are three reason :)
And of course when the monthly income of a guy in india is around $30 he won't buy anything he doesn't need. I welcome this idea too. Fuels the expantion of linux.
And of course when the monthly income of a guy in india is around $30 he won't buy anything he doesn't need. I welcome this idea too. Fuels the expantion of linux.
There is a language barrier, and in some cases it is local tribal languages that differ from the national language.
There is a language barrier, and in some cases it is local tribal languages that differ from the national language.
;-)
;-)
All you need to do in most cases is change the system fonts. Then you have windows in a differant language.
I will never stand in the way (in any way) of anyone that wants a computer and wants to learn. However, I don't understand why it is so important that these people get these computers. NO computer is worth several months pay to have. Certainly not when it runs any version of XP. Most especially of that version of XP is going to be so crippled. It seems to me that people's priorities are skewed here. These people really do have bigger more important things to do with their lives than spend money they really don't have for computers they really can't use. Although, I understand that many have learned.
This isn't right. Wether it is coming from Microsoft or a push by various business interests in America.
A country like this needs to be able to pull itself up by the bootstraps and learn to do things on their own (i.e.--their infrastructure) before this type of spending happens for these people's budgets. There is a reason why it is such a hardship for the average indian to have a computer. It is that reason that should take priority and get fixed first. Before companies like Microsoft can take advantage.
Is this what all this outsourcing to India is all about? Are American companies thinking they can bring India into a modern era?
If this is the case, it is seriously mis-guided.