Right after dropping hints that it is readying new initiatives to combat the growth and popularity of open-source software overseas, Microsoft acknowledged Tuesday that it is offering a low-priced Windows bundle to Malaysian users.
Microsoft Readies Another Cut-Rate Windows Bundle
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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Maybe next they can sell a stripped distribution in the US. I might actually use it and not pirate it.
“The PC Gemilang program is another example of innovative programs that Microsoft is creating in emerging countries to develop, enhance and expand local skills that enable individuals to realize the benefits of a robust, global IT industry,” according to a statement by Microsoft.
Let’s package together some pre-existing software and sell it cheaper, no-one else would think up THAT! </sarcasm>
Modded down again.
We have all heard about re-importing drugs from other countries. I say it’s about time we demand the right to re-import Windows from other countries!
I just don’t get it. Linux is mostly free and completely Free. Who in their right mind would actually run Windows?
People who need to run the same OS other people are running, usually because they need to run the same software and exchange files. Most software is written for Windows… This is getting to be less of an argument, but it still applies.
Also, while Linux is totally open source, it’s still a black box to the average user. It’s really hard to figure out how it works, where everything goes, what it wants from you, etc. It’s different, yes, but also just more complicated and more difficult to wrap your brain around.
While Windows is closed source, it’s not a black box to the user. (Well, it’s becoming more of one…) It’s easier to have an idea of what it’s doing, where everything goes, and what it wants from you. That’s worth money.
linux maybe needs more support and costs in the beginning to train people how to work with it, but this is gooooooooooooooooooooooooood for a country, because less money goes to the US and more jobs are created in the country that uses linux.
Free software and new jobs sounds good to me :p
here in argentina software piracy is a real threat to the it industry. that windows version is a smart desicition and i cant wait to buy it
People who need to run the same OS other people are running, usually because they need to run the same software and exchange files.
Not only that, but you have to look at what people use computers for. You take a kind of app that someone uses for hours a day – if you compare a Windows version with a Linux alternative, if the Windows version is superior in whatever way the user deems an app to be superior, then the OS itself really becomes irrevalent. When it comes to free, sometimes things are worth paying for.
>if you compare a Windows version with a Linux alternative, if
>the Windows version is superior in whatever way the user
>deems an app to be superior, then the OS itself really
>becomes irrevalent. When it comes to free, sometimes things
>are worth paying for.
This almost sounds like: i only like good books
euuhhh..where is the info in this??
>When it comes to free, sometimes things are worth paying
You miss the whole point, free is not as free beer (free software) but as in freedom of speech (freedom with software).
While Windows is closed source, it’s not a black box to the user. (Well, it’s becoming more of one…) It’s easier to have an idea of what it’s doing, where everything goes, and what it wants from you. That’s worth money.
Well… perhaps not drinks. Black Box imples that you don’t know how it does what it does becuase you can’t see how it does it or have access to it. Windows is a Black Box in that you can’t see how it works. Linux you can. However, what I really think you are trying to get at is ease of use: more people grew up on DOS than UNIX. The file system and syntax are more familiar in Windows than in Linux if you used DOS. Going from DOS to Windows was a natural step for me (I still use the command line).
Linux and Windows are very different from each other from the ground up. But if you know how to look, there is no Black Box to Linux while Windows always remains one. Likewise, to argue that Linux is a Black Box because a user doesn’t understand how it works is to argue even more strongly that Windows is a Black Box where they are guaranteed to never know how it works.
Use wise, both require learning how it works. Point, Click, Drag, Open, Close, Install, ect… But if you want to dig in as a programer? Linux is better for the enthusiast while Windows is better for the user who cares more about the application than what the application sits on.
A cut down WinXP I would purchase but until it becomes available I will just use my own stripped down other version. Microsoft has to learn that we don’t want most of the crap they bundle with their OS just the basics with the option to install what we want when we want. It doesn’t help that they have locked down the magority of the application market and that pisses me off. I have to use Windows for my audio apps and FB (simulation), I have no choice. If I was just using something for bland day to day use then I wouldn’t require their software.
I recently installed XP and then proceeded to rip out the bundled Games, Wallpaper, Netmeeting, Messenger, Movie Maker and Front Page. Getting my memory footprint to the low 60Mb and WinXP lite helped there. The GUI was really annoying but reverting that to the classic version helped there, I just don’t understand why they have so much crap in the default install. Why can’t all the bubble gum be in an additional package like the Plus Pack used to be?
>Why can’t all the bubble gum be in an additional package like
>the Plus Pack used to be?
Because MS want total control of its users and would like to see that you use THEIR software and no other. Bill must get richer and richer and richer….or i could be that the want oyu to get a good load of apps for the price you paid.
Anyway all Windows user should support Linux because it s making their prodct better and more cheap.
Well, the reason they install so much from the start is the bulk of people don’t care. It’s not like their low on space. I only care about the apps that keap popping up like messanger. I agree ditching messenger, movie maker, frontpade, netmeeting from the default would be nice, but that should be an advanced option. If people had to relize there was more on the cd and install it later they would be less likely to us it. With movie maker or front page on their they might decided to play with it. Though I don’t know if that is a funtional frontpage it comes with, it’s just there.
removing games and wallpapers, well thats getting extreme. They are very harmless in there and sometimes i use them, and across the board most people use them. All MS really needs to do is have a install time thing that says “to do an advanced install pres F7 now, while it’s doing something. Most people would never notice it, so they would get tripped up by it, but then others could go in and remove them. Before install.
You have to remember what you call bubble gum is another person required component. Like luna, I will never go back to classic mode, it just hurts the eyes to look at, luna isn’t the best, but it’s not to bad either. For as much as so many diss XP for it, it’s also a huge selling point since it looks nice. I really wish MS would use what ever apple created for the iTunes port, now thats nice looking. I don’t know if I would call it brushed metal or not, I looks awful on OSX but good on winXP, go figure.
I hope taxpayers enjoy subsidizing Microsoft so they can afford to sell Windows cheaper to other countries than they sell it to the United States government.
Good point, americans should be allowed to re-import foreign country versions of windows. I assume that, with all those high software volume licenses, almost all of the company’s revenue must come from the US. That “one size fits all” strategy is unfair
Why is MS reading another cut rate bundle? Is it because other OS are now good enough for main stream and they have some healthy competition, is it beacuse now Goverments have to account for the spending budgets and see the value in low cost OS, is it due to the potential loss of market share. What ever the reason, this can only be a good thing. I really belive that more OS should become mainstream Linux, Mac, ANOTHER OS. This will only help us the “paying public”
MS have enough money and market share which they gained illegally (see MS Anti Trust Laws). It’s time they give busines and the home user what they actually want and not what is forced upon them, and if it takes linux/others to push them along this road then all the better.
In a world without walls who needs windows and gates?
In the end, it’s all marketing.
The mission of Microsoft is completely different than that of open source or other operating systems.
MS wants to put a product on the market at regular intervals to make profit.
Others just want to release, what they think, is a good operating system, and don’t worry about making profits.
MS also has lots and lots of money to create, let’s face it, sometimes wonderfull advertisements.
Windows also gets pre-installed on most pc’s that you can buy.
And as long as people swallow this, it’s not going to end.
If 90% of the people don’t care about the awefull strategies of MS, and continue buying those products, it’s not going to change.
But without advertising Linux or other operating systems, users are not being made aware of alternatives or how MS differs from others.
I read in an editorial from a magazine today that Bill is feeling the hot breath of IBM’s new desktop linux system.
And in the same editorial, there was mentioned that one of the managers at MS has this idea of getting back the production cost of new software in one day, the rest is proffit. Can you believe that? That’s awefull.
Ok, these people at MS have to earn some money too, but some software is really overpriced, certainly Visual Studio and Office (unless you’re a student or similar).
Yet, MS is always present when it comes to stopping software piracy.
Well, Billy boy, lower the prices and it will stop eventually.
It’s the same with music cd’s, way overpriced, and piracy will be high.
Some marketing managers only see dollar signs 🙁
Windows is a Black Box in that you can’t see how it works. Linux you can. However, what I really think you are trying to get at is ease of use
Yeah, that’s pretty close.
Likewise, to argue that Linux is a Black Box because a user doesn’t understand how it works is to argue even more strongly that Windows is a Black Box where they are guaranteed to never know how it works.
Perhaps black box was too strong an idea. I don’t mean to say people are ignorant of how closeWindow() or some-such is implemented. I’m trying to say: where is/are the boot script(s) (are there any?), where is my configuration data, where do my programs go, where are what parts of the OS in the filesystem, what can I get rid of without breaking other things, what do I need in order to add things and not break other things, if my printing doesn’t work where should I look, etc.
An ignorant user trying to discover things on his own will have a pretty easy time on Windows 3.1 and 95 (perhaps even knowiing at a glance for many of these things), a harder time on XP, and a hell of a time on Linux trying to find these things out for himself.
Yes, Linux lets you read documentation from somewhere and read the source, but I’m only talking about regular Joe’s who play with it casually to get a feel of the general structure of how it’s put together. To these people, Linux does remain a black box for a lot longer than Windows.
“Because MS want total control of its users and would like to see that you use THEIR software and no other. Bill must get richer and richer and richer….or i could be that the want oyu to get a good load of apps for the price you paid.”
Umm… What about Apple and them including software into their OS? Oh wait… They arent Microsoft, so I guess its ok for them, right? Who would think that a company would want users to use THEIR software instead of someone elses? Pretty far fetched, huh?
“Anyway all Windows user should support Linux because it s making their prodct better and more cheap.”
And Linux users should support Windows because its competition makes Linux better as well.
the decision of ms is somewhat pointless. In Malaysia very few people buy windows. all are using pirated one latest xp pro except for in case of business you need a genuine one.
i use linux for 2 years + things on desktop are just keep getting better & better yet i still dont recommend linux to average jeo users. A gamer:windows; Not a gamer:buy a mac if you have the money.(very rare for people purchasing mac as pc hardware in Malaysia is freakin cheap!)
most business related users need quicken, ubs accounting, my dad factory needs autocad. my friends as designers abode & macromedia is all they need. most importantly its the mindset people just dont switch over night even for windows to mac.
i use linux(or unix) simply because my work/job/life. windows for me is like 90% technically no go, 10% ethically no go. im happy with linux because i know how to deal with it simple as that. the lastest mainactor beta release actually does my camcorder im really surprise! digikam deals with my cybershot. Maya for linux(the thingy weta digital used to make LOTR!)
gimp is ok still a little miss photoshop.
the fact is that i consider xp as ms finest effort seriously. the os is more stable than its predecessors. with all the software hardware supported. why more you want? xp rarely crashes or causes error these days.
Before praising/cursing/moaning/laughing/insulting/etc. ever considered the reasoning behind this? The Malaysian government already introduced ceiling prices for music and video VCDs and DVDs, and while its enforcement is postponed, it is unlikely the ceiling price going to change. Now they have also been talking about a ceiling price for software… which is probably why Microsoft picked Malaysia to be its first lab rat with this edition.
And in case you didn’t know, ceiling prices in Malaysia means the highest maximum price a manufacturer can sell its wares and it encompasses a lot of things like eggs, basic vegetables during festival season, chicken, gas, etc.
Microsoft is well established here as commercial software provider. Only people here that actually use Linux are students and hosting companies.
There was a some lobbying within the government for OSS solutions. I believe MS is trying to counter-act that by making their OS and productive applications more affordable here. In fact it is cheaper to buy software via Amazon that buy it from a local retailer here. Close to 90% of consumers and even businesses use pirated software. People here are looking for free legal alternatives that they can use, especially schools. MS is just trying its best to avoid that mind set from erroding its market share.
-Ad
>users to use THEIR software instead of someone elses? Pretty
>far fetched, huh?
First read my comment it makes your comment not look as retarded as it does now.
>And Linux users should support Windows because its
>competition makes Linux better as well.
This is the everyday reality, Linux is getting better and more user friendly because of (also) Microsoft products. Its a pitty its not the other way around. OpenOffice supports word format because word is used a lot and because they believe its your freedom to decide in wich format you write a letter. When will Windows users ask Microsoft to add OpenOffice format to word? When will Microsoft open its source to the Samba team instead of trying to get them out of the game, Why does Microsft is trying to break even standasrds like XML? Microsoft trying always to break compatibility with other software and Os’s its how they do business and i do not like it nor do i like their software wich is of a very poor quality most of the time.
>users to use THEIR software instead of someone elses?
>Pretty far fetched, huh?
First read my comment it makes your comment look not as retarded as it does now.
>And Linux users should support Windows because its
>competition makes Linux better as well.
This is the everyday reality, Linux is getting better and more user friendly because of (also) Microsoft products. Its a pitty its not the other way around. OpenOffice supports word format because word is used a lot and because they believe its your freedom to decide in wich format you write a letter. When will Windows users ask Microsoft to add OpenOffice format to word? When will Microsoft open its source to the Samba team instead of trying to get them out of the game, Why does Microsft is trying to break even standasrds like XML? Microsoft trying always to break compatibility with other software and Os’s its how they do business and i do not like it nor do i like their software wich is of a very poor quality most of the time.
With 440% of profit margin it seems only like more real price:)