[PLUG] Would you pay "the equivalent" of $50.00 for this when the alternative is Linux?

["Howard Bloom" <lists@pc-man.com>]

Microsoft two years ago didn't know whether to shit or go blind when Thailand started offering PC's to the people loaded with Linux for $300.00 US or 12,000 baht local currency.  I've been reading about their reduced XP offering but this is the first I've heard that it is so reduced as to make it untenable for the average user. 

 

Howard

 

From the Bangkok Post 

 

Windows OS could be too 'Lite' for users

TONY WALTHAM

Dion Wiggins

Microsoft last week announced Windows XP Starter Edition (XP SE), a "Lite" version of Windows for first-time home users to be available pre-installed on some computers sold here, in Malaysia and Indonesia as well as in two other yet-to-be-named countries beginning in October.

The price will be announced later, but Microsoft says it will be "the most affordable Windows operating system offered to date." The company will work closely with governments in a 12-month pilot programme to study and evaluate the benefits created, it says.

However, Gartner Research analysts take issue with a limitation that only three applications can run concurrently. They also believe that an inability for XP SE "to grow with the user as he or she gains experience" could lead to an increase in software piracy "because the only upgrade path offered by Microsoft requires that the user pay the full retail price for XP Home."

Dion Wiggins and Martin Gilliland of Gartner Research state that "if Yahoo Instant Messenger, Microsoft Instant Messenger and an email client were running, the user couldn't open a web browser." They add that limiting all users to a single desktop could make some processes more complicated.

The Gartner analysts also suggest that Microsoft would have better met user needs if it had "focussed on first-time owners, rather than first-time users," noting that many families didn't own a PC but included people who already knew basic PC use from cybercafes and schools.

They add that XP SE would likely frustrate these users, because it would not deliver the same quality of experience with which they are familiar and conclude that because of "unnecessary limitations," Microsoft may be perceived as pushing an upgrade path and frustrating users.

The Gartner analysts commend Microsoft for simplifying things for first-time users, observing how development efforts for XP SE included studying 1,000 first-time users in Thailand for nearly a year.

Microsoft has added a number of new features to XP SE, including "My Support," a redesigned help system and built-in "Getting Started" guide, local language instruction videos on a CD, customisation with localised wallpaper and screen savers, and preconfigured settings that include a firewall turned on by default.

But other limitations include a maximum screen resolution of 800 by 600, no support for PC home networking or printer sharing.

In web forums, users here criticised the limitations and some expressed concern that government support for Microsoft might impact the progress of the Linux platform, although some commentators praised the initiative as being a good way to combat piracy.

 

 

Howard L. Bloom, CCNA

Cisco Remarketer/Network Consulting

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