A slimmed-down version of Microsoft's Windows XP will be offered to novice
computer users in Thailand beginning in September.
Windows XP Starter Edition will be offered as part of government-sponsored
programs intended to provide consumers with more
affordable computers. The software will cost 1,490 Thai baht, or roughly
US$36, according to news reports. Windows XP normally sells for several hundred
dollars.
The new version will include Windows Explorer and Windows Media Player and
other features included in the full versions of Windows XP. But it will also
include some new features aimed at helping beginner computer users, Microsoft
said.
The company didn't provide exact details of what the new version of Windows
will include. A representative wasn't immediately available to comment.
Windows XP Starter Edition was created to enable Microsoft to participate in
a low-cost PC program run by the the Thailand Ministry of Information and
Communication Technology, or ICT, without adjusting its policy of charging the
same price for Windows and Office, no
matter where in the world they are sold.
Microsoft has come under increasing competitive pressure from open-source
software such as Linux in developing countries, where the single-price
policy makes Microsoft software too expensive for most. The Thai ICT PCs
were originally available only with Linux. Linux PCs are seen as a threat to
Windows partly because buyers are considered likely to replace the operating
system with pirated
copies of Windows.
Several Asian governments have recently embraced
open-source software in an attempt to fix problems such as high software
costs and wide-scale software piracy. The price of Microsoft software is often
cited as the root of these problems.
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