Microsoft may have started shipping its cheaper version of Windows in Asia, but getting support for its low-cost computing vision is still very much a work in progress.
In Asia, Microsoft sees slow start for budget XP
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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This is not surprising. Given a choice of buying a broken operating system or pirating a full featured one which would you choose? Microsoft just doesn’t get it free marketing advice for MS sell the full version of Windows home for $100 a copy and professional for $150 and make money through sheer volume. I have put off upgrading my windows machines based soley on the cost of the operating system…i refuse to buy upgrade software.
There is absolutely zero incentive in that market to purchase a crippled version when they can get a pirated full featured version for free or nearly-free. In North America and Europe we have the “software cops” led by MS who can drop by to “audit” your licenses. But there is nothing equivalent in Asia. Can’t upgrade without a valid license? Who cares?
In North America and Europe we have the “software cops” led by MS who can drop by to “audit” your licenses. But there is nothing equivalent in Asia.
Yes there is. Over here its the BSA.
Why spend money for windows in the first place, unless its part of a new computer. I you have a resonably new computer you probably have at least windows Win 2k. As far as I can see there is no business value in upgrading above NT4 or win 2k and Office 97.
I still can’t figure out how upgrading to XP will make my customers pay larger bills, or how to make them pay them soner, or even how it will make me write my invoices faster. The only thing that happens if I ugrade, is that I loose time on doing it, time testing it, time learning it. Not to mention that an upgrade usually is ascociated with a small licence fee.
Was in Thailand December and suffered price shock.
I talked to family about using Linux. Problem is they expect to buy windows software and use it just as it is. So I went to buy my wifes family a copy of the stripped down windows.
Problem was the price I was quoted at Pantip (bangkok Thailand) was $68 or more.
This is crazy. My wifes siblings make between $200-$400 per month. No way I am buying several of them windows for that cost. Now I just bring parts and build the machines. It is up to them to go buy windows and put it on.
R
Too bad you don’t realize the economic realities. He has a good point. People just want to buy off the shelf software and have it work.
Unfortunately, Big, Dumb, Ugly, Arrogant US corporations (sounds sorta like mr. anonymizer, no?) fail to sell their product in line with the economic realities of their HOST countries.
MS does itself a disservice if it lists their product at 50% of a persons monthly wage. No way in hell most people I know would suffer that ratio of cost for a hunk of OS.
Perhaps you should look into WINE and setting up these boxes for the specific apps your family requires. Most likely, there are open source solutions.
However, you could also go with ReactOS, and mess with it. GPL WindowsNT anyone?
I’m very interested to see how long it takes some enterprising young programmer in one of these countries to take the BSD networking stack and port it over to WinXP/Limited Edition. I mean, after all…. that’s all that MS did in the first place, right? 🙂
Mabye it’s time for Trumpet Winsock to make a comeback? Remember those days people… Networking software!!!!!
He’s a troll. (and an ass*, though I repeat myself)
Ignore him.
I did like your original comments.
hmm