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Microsoft Develops XP 'Light' for Thailand
GoatJuggler writes with this Bangkok Post report that "Microsoft announced plans to develop a discounted, slightly crippled version of Windows XP for Thailand."
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It's possible to wring even less functionality out of Windows XP?
Revolutionary!
Philip Sandifer's academic website
Sounds like an improvement. Thats about three steps less crippled than my version, and cheaper to boot!
Boy, how can I buy this. I would much rather have a slightly crippled version rather than the massively crippled version that Microsoft supplied my OEM for use with my notebook.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Didn't they already released Windows XP Home?
-Mr. Fusion
1.Release product in piracy capital of the world
2.?????
3.Profit!
Microsoft is notorious for bundling things to cause lock-in.
How are they going to balance that with creating a light version of XP?
It doesn't even say why Microsoft is doing it: concerns about piracy? relative crappiness of Thai computers? price concerns?
FloodMT: crapflood Movab
I guess the choice would be easy.
The article says "
because of the complexity of an operating system, reducing functionality was not a simple process and every modification would have to be thoroughly tested.
So why would it make sense to spend more money in making these reductions? Why not just give the standard package? I'm missing something here.
The law of excluded middle : Either I'm foo or I'm foobar
if crippled means, getting rid of internet explorer, the windows kernel, and everything else, and replacing it with, linux 2.6.2, gnome 2.4....
I write code.
This is quite the desperate attempt by MS to obtain a larger share of the world OS market. Hopefully those in Bangkok will learn that there's an un-crippled, stable, fast operating system out there already, and it's FREE.
I got a +5, Troll
...where the ILoveYou worm was named MeLoveYouLongTime
Slightly Crippled?
Yeah, it comes pre-installed with 14 viruses.
Slightly Crippled?
It's product activation is 30 days expired.
Slightly Crippled?
It's the latest version.
Slightly Crippled? .NET
They wrote it using
Slightly Crippled?
But it comes with a free Frogurt.
Damn... I could keep this up all night.
You watch how fast that version leaves that country, home to some of the biggest software pirates on the planet! Everybody will want it just like everybody wants an Office lite as well.
Jonathanjk.com
And now we present to you a hundred jokes about Windows already being crippled and a hundred more forshadowing jokes about Windows being crippled.
(Not too unlike this one)
No sig for you!!
Yes, I did RTFA, and it said nothing about what would be different between the "light" version and the normal version.
Is it going to have fewer M$ programs bundled with it or what? And if it is, what the hell isn't too tightly integrated for them to remove? Solitare and pinball?
If they think this will stop people from pirating in Thailand try again. That is like telling a pirate in the US that Windows XP Home is $200 but you can get a 'light' version for $40 or $50.
The pirates will still pirate! DUH
It happened with music. People bantered this whole "when the music companies get a realistic business model and stop charging highway robbery for 1 or 2 good songs yada yada and rest is filler". When iTunes and other services popped up "copyright infringement" (as they candidly call it) didn't stop or slow down. That was just the vocal point they argued for now they will find something else. Before it was fair use. Next it will be "I don't think artist x deserves a mansion so I can judge how much is enough for them" or some crud.
Does this mean they are removing all the bloated features that no one actually uses? Or are they just disabling them and leaving the bloat in place?
Make that Thailand, not just Bankok. That's what happens when you rush to post :)
I got a +5, Troll
Customers of this new entry level version of Windows would be presented with a clear and easy upgrade path to both Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional, he added.
...
In France, tobacco companies have started selling packs of cigarettes containing only 19 cigarettes instead of 20. A "crippled" pack of smokes in a sense. Why? so that those who can't afford full-size packs since the latest price rises (read: kids and teens) can buy the 19 cigarette pack and get hooked.
Sounds like Microsoft is doing exactly that with poor countries: snare customers then pull on the knot. "buy our cheapo limited software, then when you need more functionalities, it'll be a lot more expensive to ditch Microsoft and go for free-software than pay for the Microsoft upgrade".
But I guess it's business as usual, all companies do that sort of thing, not just Microsoft, I'm not shouting evil-M$ here. But I do hope the Thai government sees through the trap
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
They crippled XP by adding some of the code they bought from SCO (you know, the stuff that didn't make it into Linux) :)
so exactly what will be the "reduced functionality"?
i'd bet it will have something to do with hardware compatibility.
The End User License Agreement won't have a "disagree" option.
Does this mean they get rid of that obnoxious dog?
If so, maybe I'll study Thai... *grin*
Software publishers in Thailand have begun to realize the huge popularity of pirated software in Thailand: the extreme price differential. You might be able to sell $100 software elsewhere, but when you are selling the $100 software a few feet away from someone selling a pirated copy for $5, what is the rational consumer going to do? Video game manufactures now produce Thai versions of games, complete with a Thai installation manual and even Thai ingame instructions, for only a a few dollars more than the street price of a pirated version. If someone isn't willing to pay 20 times more for the real version, perhaps they're willing to pay only 3 times more. Disclaimer: I was an American who I lived in Thailand for five years. Has anyone else gone shopping at Panthip Plaza?
Thailand appears to be pretty much going the Linux route so Microsoft wants to compete, but can't drop the prices of their software without violating their own pricing contracts with other nations? (I'm fuzzy on that part)
So they can remove a feature or two from Windows Home (my guess? Windows activation and automatic upgrading), call it crippled and then give it away to combat Linux.
...slightly crippled version of Windows XP for Thailand.
In other words, it will take less time to hit BSOD...
Business \Busi"ness\, n.;
A scam in which all people involved perceive as beneficial...
It's possible to wring even less functionality out of Windows XP?
:-)
I guess they can make a special "win95 core" version of XP... sorta like a renamed WinME
"If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
The article is dated Wednesday 04 February 2004. So this is more like News for Nerds. Stuff that mattered.
Also, I guess they just want to get rid of some old Windows 2000 CDs by putting an "XP light" bumper sticker on them and selling them to less developed countries. It's like selling crap to the poor.
In fact, it is selling crap to the poor, now that I think about it.
only means that all of the solitaire games are unwinnable.
Game: Player 'Donald J Trump' now has AI skill level 'experimental'.
In acient times, the prices were based on effort to make product demand and competition in the market. In recent times, the company has to make an *additional* effort to start to sell his product for lower price Ism't something rotten in this society based on monopolies and all this marketing-branching-advertizing bullshit arround?
What this article is leaving out because it wasn't writen for a USA audience is that 1500 baht is roughly equal to US$35-40 depending on where exchange rates are.
Thailand's People PC project is a government effort to try to get the price of a PC to be affordable for the average person there. Microsoft's contribution to the project is its willingness to sell both Windows XP Home and Microsoft Office for 1500 baht... US$35-40. Uh oh, that's a drastically lower price then MS is charging the rest of the world, and MS doesn't like to have that kind of inconsistency.
So, that's why they're working on this "light" edition that will have a few things less than XP Home, and therefore be a different product that MS can price seperately.
Of course, the OSS folks can hop in here and point out that going with Linux would cost them 0 baht which converts to US$0... and that's what Microsoft's worried about. Better to get a little money than to risk getting none at all and letting Linux become the standard operating system in Thailand.
I can't speak for Thailand specifically, but I know it's the same as Bangladesh, when I was over there you could get the Longhorn betas pre-burned and with covers and the whole deal. And they cost next to nothing to boost. You could get them at malls, street vendors, Internet cafes. About the only draw back was that the CDs were so cheap they stop working in a few month or so, but that's plenty of time to use it.
Why would the average Thai pay for crippleware when they can already get XP for next to nothing?
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
This new OS "will be released in limited, selected markets later this year". What's the bet one of the very first markets is the black market at Pantip Plaza??
"If you create user accounts, by default, they will have an account type of Administrator with no password." KB Q293834
...pirates in Thailand announced that they would continue to sell XP Pro from streetcarts for a dollar a disk.
I'll bet one of the first things to go is TCP/IP networking. The CLI interface could disappear. Crippled Multimedia support maybe? Or how about eliminating some of the configuration tools and options. Fewer drivers? Eye candy (what little there is now) including fonts, screen savers, wallpaper, event sounds, themes, etc. will probably disappear.
My guess is Microsoft wants to sell a locked down system where the only upgrade path to new features is through XP Home Edition.
Is it just me, or is Mr. McBean a Gates Light too?!
thainy thim
If you look at the differences between Xp Home edition and Xp professional, they are mainly in hardware and multiuser support. So, possibly, they may have removed the SMP support and set some kind of RAM/Hdd size limit. I guess they might have removed/decreased the multi user support too.
I'm just guessing, but it seems kind of possible anyway =)
The most "substantive" part (technically speaking) of the article was
:]
Mr McBean added that the first release would essentially be XP Home edition with some reduced functionality, although for future versions there would be a chance of additional or incremental development and innovation.
So they are going to release XP Home and then add innovations to reduce the functionality to that of a "lite" version.
May be MS should buy the Thai people XPlite from www.litepc.com instead of spending money on additional innovation.
We will make it so easy to switch over ... no money down ...lock in forever.
Yes ... and over here the dog faced boy .... yes hurry hurry hurry!!!
"They say travel broadens the mind, so I went over the falls in a barrel." -Thomas Dolby
Microsoft are going to spend money and time devaluing their product to sell it to people who can't afford it at their current price. This from a company that makes a profit of over $1 billion a quarter.
Never trust a man in a blue trench coat, Never drive a car when you're dead
When you are in Bangkok, at least check out Pantip Plaza. It's the biggest computer mall I've ever seen in my life. And a lot of stalls sell illegal cd's/dvd's. :)
The dvd's aren't worth it though. The cd's are
btw, last time I was in Bangkok, I bought 6-7 ORIGINAL Utada Hikaru albums for +/- $8 a piece. If I imported them to my place of birth (Schiedam, Netherlands) I would have paid +/- $30 a piece
Those albums had a label on them saying that they could only be sold in Thailand.
This means that the tactics that the thai RIAA (if they have one) are using is:
- CHEAPER CD'S TO COMPETE AGAINST PIRACY
Who would have thought it really could work ??
This is the sig that says NI (again)
Or not. Microsoft is essentially spending extra money to develop a worse version of Windows they can sell cheaper. Instead of wasting no extra money, and selling Windows XP Home for cheaper to customers in Thailand. Then people would bulk order windows from Thailand to save costs? Microsoft has enough economic clout to blacklist anyone who tried selling cheap (legit) copies of Office from Thailand. All in all, I think its a terrible move by Microsoft, so selfish that it costs them extra.
Man is that funny.
There's an EU anti-trust investigation ongoing into unfair practices by Microsoft. If MS can sell Windows and Office cheaply in Thailand, one of the EU's questions is likely to be "Why can't you do that here?"; this crippled version aims to do an end run around such ideas by giving an obvious answer.
I appear to have a blog. Odd.
MS is finally feeling some price pressure.
Gentlemen, when it comes to a monopoly, piracy is *good* because its the only damned competition they've got.
Linux is good because its the only viable alternative to microsoft.
They already have a 'lite' version, its what runs on PDA's...
Plus the 'embedded' product line...
---- Booth was a patriot ----
OK. So they remove the apps that are security holes for Thailand but leave them in for us. Even then, once they update, they may have to download those apps anyways. Best thing for Thailand is to support a Linux distro, donate money and put Linux on computers. People get cheap computers and learn true computing other than Microsoft "computing".
One hallmark of a true monoply is price descrimination and market segmentation. This is where a monopoly charges different prices to different classes of users for reasons that do not reflect actual cost differences and often where the same product is sold in different forms to create artifical price points and artificial or arbitrary market seperations. The key to price discrimination is to exploit the fact that different users have a different willingness and ability to pay for essentially the same goods and services. As such I simply view this as further evidence of monopolistic behavior, as if further evidence is even nessisary.
In soviet union, Windows XP cripples you!
Ars Technica has a little more on the story. Here's the text:
Microsoft is reportedly developing a "light" version of Windows XP to be aimed at developing markets. This is the word from the Bangkok Post (irritatingly long registration required), which is reporting that the origin of the project is Thailand's own program to aggressively seed homes with computers.
Thailand's People's PC project, initiated last year by the ICT Ministry, has been the genesis of a new operating system from Microsoft Corporation that is now under development, according to Microsoft Thailand Managing Director Andrew McBean. The new OS, as yet unnamed, but a new "light" addition to the Windows XP "family", will be released in limited, selected markets later this year and will offer reduced functionality when compared with Windows XP Professional and Home editions, he said.
Microsoft has to date been very protective of its pricing model, which aims at more or less parallel prices for its products across the globe. When People's PC was originally announced, Microsoft said that it would offer XP Home and Office Basic at an extremely reduced price, signaling the start of the company's willingness to adjust pricing on national levels. Now, however, it looks like the company is going to develop yet another consumer OS version. Why would the company spend additional resources developing an even-less functional version of Windows XP Home when they could simply just sell Windows XP Home at a reduced rate? The most likely explanation is piracy. In developing countries, piracy is a major problem, and the Redmond Giant is likely trying to avoid mass distribution of its fully functional OS by seeding the populace with a less functional, and probably less attractive OS.
Mr McBean added that the first release would essentially be XP Home edition with some reduced functionality, although for future versions there would be a chance of additional or incremental development and innovation. But he also pointed out that because of the complexity of an operating system, reducing functionality was not a simple process and every modification would have to be thoroughly tested.
A release date is not known for certain, but Microsoft Thailand is saying that this will happen, and not before SP2 for XP is released. It also remains unclear just where this product will be available. It's highly unlikely that it will every be available in the West. Rather, this project seems squarely aimed at recent efforts in Asia to build Linux-based solutions for emerging markets.
You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
There's already a thriving ebay trade in legal Thai software(because of the huge price difference), expect it to grow even more
Thanks for brightening up my day. All the really funny jokes are at -1.
"Customers of this new entry level version of Windows would be presented with a clear and easy upgrade path to both Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional, he added."
1) Customer buys XP-demo
2) Customer "forced" to upgrade to XP-home/pro at a later date
3) Profit!
Before you know it, Dell/HP/etc will be shipping only XP-demo, and end-suckers^Wusers will have to post-purchase the "real" thing.
The new OS (...) will offer reduced functionality when compared with Windows XP. (...)
Development of the code is being done in the company's US headquarters in Redmond, Washington.
Lucky you who can enjoy backward development. Mortal beings like us have to stick up with the full functionality.
Great a slightly crippled version of XP for the slightly crippled people of Thailand. I mean really why is Microsoft trying so hard to cater to other countries while still lacking in the support as to completely modify an entire OS for this country.
this has been the best and one of very few approriate Profit!! jokes on slashdot. congratulations!
Reminds me of US pharmaceutical companies charging some countries more than others for some drugs. Like HIV drugs, for example.
...or gas stations charging 10 cents more/gallon at the only downtown pump versus one of many in the suburbs.
...or books on the New York Times bestseller list being discounted by 15% at some bookstores but not others...
...or taxis and buses charging an additional "downtown zone" or "rush hour zone" rate for the same ride...
...or the vending machine at the movie theater charging you $2 for a 16 oz. coke when you could buy a 12 pack for less that double that...
...or the hip bar downtown charging $6 for a Heineken but the college bar where my brother lives sells beer for 75 cents on tap...
...or the cell phone company letting you make free calls on weekends but charging you 25 cents/minute for weekdays...
Yeah. Gosh. supply. Demand. Different markets. Variable pricing strategies. Absolutely shocking. We simply must create laws so that the government can set fair prices for everyone.
I would have to say that explosives are the most abused technology in all of history.
None of the articles that I've read about this have said what functionality they're taking out of the system. For all we know, all the apps that we complain about (i.e. Explorer, Outlook, and Media Player) will be in the OS and other non-downloadable, core/system functionality will be removed (e.g. VPN, IPv6, and other networking protocols) or something else vexing but replaceable with third-party software.
In other words, it's perfectly possible that it will be both "anti-competitive" AND crippled.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
when you can pirate the 'full' version for less?
isnt that what they do there?
Micro$oft could GIVE the 'lite' version away and STILL be in the same position.
Full Fat: Windows XP Professional
Regular: Windows XP Home Edition
Lite: Windows XP Family Edition
Atkins Diet: Mac OS X
Fat Free: Linux
Anorexia: *BSD
How do some industries get away with this? For example the entertainment industry, especially with DVDs.
if you "didn't get around to actually" fucking one, why do you think you would next time you go?
Maybe there won't be much at all removed, but MS needs to justify the lower price. Otherwise, if it offered Windows XP Home at dramatically lower prices, some governments may start asking the 64,000 question:
"Well, Bill when we said we couldn't afford XP Home at Z price and considered Linux, you say you can offer it at 1/3 Z price. If that was the case, why didn't you offer that before? Were you gouging us that much?"
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
So, MS is spending a bunch of extra money to remove stuff and test the result, then charging the customer less for it.
This is just one reason I will NEVER understand marketing.
Wouldn't they be better off just selling the same thing everyone else gets, just at a discount?
My guess is they'll take out the ability to run third-party apps. Increases revenues and lock-in at the same time.
Because my damn colleagues won't be around! DOH!
The People's computer are state-subsidized machine that comes pre-loaded with localized linux, cheaply, about $200 Some local manufacture are also start to offer similar machine at the same price point-preloaded with linux as well. Yes, there's nothing to stop people from loading a pirated XP in these machines, but average person who just wants a computer won't care, these machines are fairly low-specced, geeks who will bother to get a pirated copy of windows to run won't bother with these machines, those that are, will be a minority. Microsoft have a unified pricing structure, if they lower the price of XP there, people in other places will start questioning why not here? Despite repeated request from the government there for lower-prized windows, they out right refuse not to; so they'll ship a crippled copy instead to prevent them having to lower price everywhere. Now, the average people will start to think, hmmm. for a couple of buck more, I can have the same "Windows" I use at work, non of these weird Linux... We're doomed. :)
The bundled XP Home with SP4 to cripple it!
First Brain gets to control Microsoft, forcing Gates out of the job and using that ridiculous hairless robot suit.
Now it gets Pinky a job of Managing Director in Thailand. Let's stop them while we still can!
Now, I have to admit, the plan is somewhat clever: they will downsize Windows, removing bloat up to the point it starts working again! Linux will never have a chance if they get Windows to work again!
Eeeek!
Any version of XP a consumer can legally get is already crippled beyond use. It has a huge bug called "product activation" which means you can not reinstall the product you supposedly bought without Microsoft's permission. This renders the product completely useless because you won't be able to re-install it in 5 or 10 years to access old data, or if somehow newer MS code is even worse.
Why is some other version with an insignificant additional crippiling newsworthy?
Jason
ProfQuotes
Am I the only person who accidentially read this as Mr Bean?
Do you care about the security of your wireless mouse?
Why is Microsoft doing this? Besides the obvious "Why don't they just use Linux?" suggestion, I'm puzzled why M$ would "develop" a stripped down Windows for just that market. If "crippled" means that it doesn't include a web browser or media player - I'm all for it. They should sell the product in other markets IMO.
Plus, in many developing nations like Thailand you can buy any software you want for about $1 or $1.50 per CD. Why would they pay more to get less?
I'll be interested to see if the product actually takes off there.
I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
If the US is going to be competing in the world market, we are going to need the lowest possible price for operating systems and computers to help us compete with countries with lower costs in other areas. Workers in the US need relief in pricing to make up for the heavy costs of regulations, housing, and health care, or we will end up not being competitive. Given that a well outfitted office computer (which doesn't need CD-RWs etc) is only about $300 until you add software, you can see the importance.
...`cos if thailand is anything like venezuela,people get hooked and then just go out and get a pirated version for $2 out in the street.You can even see cops stopping and browsing all the pirated software/music/dvd`s etc. (and buying them of course.)
Last time I installed Windows XP from a CD, here's what I noticed.
1) It didn't have a compiler.
2) It had no INTENDED remote access services such as FTPD or SSHD.
3) I was unable to manipulate graphics.
4) I was unable to use my Network Card.
5) I was unable to optimally use my graphics card.
6) I was unable to optimally use any piece of hardware that didn't have Microsoft written on it.
7) It takes for ever to do anything in Notepad as compared to Vi.
8) I had practically no system logging to speak of.
9) I was unable to use multiple desktops.
10) I was unable to entirely change the appearance of the GUI.
11) I was unable to simply download much of the software needed to render Windows somewhat useful. Even though Gimp and OpenOffice run on Windows and GVIM, refer to number 4.
12) I kept getting "Access Denied" or something along the lines of insufficient permissions even though I believe I gave myself full rights over the system. On Windows 2000 this can be seen even if you are logged in as Administrator.
13) I had to reboot fifteen times, and four hours later while windowsupdate.microsoft.com told me I needed nearly a GB of updates. Many of which could only be installed one at a time.
14) Then another two hours and multiple reboots becuase of installing device drivers (refer to number 6) and then updating those from the old drivers that were on old disgarded discs in the closet.
15) I had next to nothing in regards to software and production....
Compared to what you get with the average Linux ISO image.... Windows, out of the box, is a pathetic quadriplegic whose wheel chair is missing a wheel.
Then, Microsoft goes and strips so much "functionality" from Windows XP to publicly admit it's "crippled"? What more can you take from it?
This is kind of like shareware that you have to pay for.
It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
I'd use a carrot and stick approach.
Carrots:
- Offer better/more complete Thai language support in Win Lite.
- Offer it at low cost, as we now know will happen
Sticks:
- *Any* hardware upgrade results in needing to re-register with MS Thailand. More memory, a CPU upgrade; just keep re-registering every time. That way they can track usage that much better, and possibly get early warning of changes in usage trends.
- Possibly remove functionality to the point where Win Lite is essentially useless in corporate environments. Limit access to file servers, or network printers, or something similar; maybe time bomb it so you have X days to upgrade to the more expensive version once you start using "advanced" features
- Limit it to the point where it's essentially useless outside of Thailand. That shouldn't be hard given the uniqueness of Thai language
You kids are getting it too easy to cripple your windows. Back in my days I had to I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night,half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day hacking code, and pay microsoft for permission to hack code and cripple windows, and when we got home, our Dad would kill us, and dance about on our graves singing "Hallelujah."
Python script to convert photos into "artsy" portraits: http://p2pbridge.sf.net/pyPortrait/
Why? so that those who can't afford full-size packs since the latest price rises (read: kids and teens) can buy the 19 cigarette pack and get hooked.
Try to pay at least some attention next time you're in the convienience store and you'll see pretty much every commodity works this way - those fishsticks, the glass of jam, the block of cheese.
They all reduce size. 1000g -> 900 -> 800 -> 750 -> 700 -> 600 -> 500 & new "big-pack" of 1000. Why? Because people pay a lot more attention to changes in price - changes in weight or volume go fairly unnoticed.
Of course in this case it's pretty obvious, since they're few and easily counted. But it's the same thing. People in general have a price they find "acceptable" for a pack of cigarettes, regardless of the price of the individual price per cigarette.
It's one of the small irrationalities of the mind, and the manufacturers are catering to it. To go from there to this being some directed attack on kids and teens is quite simply hogwash. There's more than enough legitimate complaints to make against them, without grasping for straws.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
...but has had the back button removed too.
One man's pink plane is another man's blue plane.
This would set a nasty precident for MSFT, once one country has seen that MSFT may remove their global pricing, every country with a currency weaker than the USD will be clamouring for the same benefits. Guess its part of a larger trend away from US companies that need to earn in USD to survive. If you think about that, there are some nasty implications for the US ahead in international trade because of the relatively strong USD...
Gawddammit - I'm switching to Linux with Win4Lin, due to WinXP's slow networking bugs and they want to cripple it more???
Examples:
1. Senior rates and student rates. They are poorer and can't afford things like park admission. This is a way to get them to pay up.
2. Coupons. Lower income people will now shop at your store. Rich people generally have better things to do with their time than clip coupons.
Microsoft is not special, and you don't need to be a monopoly to 'exploit' this strategy.
Corporations: your universal scapegoat for all society's ills.
Yep, good ol Windows XP SP1 has a nice bug in it that doesn't allow you to remove the read-only attribute from a file. If you remove the attribute from the file, it will still be read-only unless you reboot the XP system.
Or maybe it is the cheapo version of Microsoft's built-in anti-virus measures (haha).
I seem to recall not so long ago Microsoft claiming it was impossible to remove components or offer any sort of modular form of Windows? Wasn't this one of the prime arguments that MS used in the antitrust trial? "No, your honor, we can't remove Internet Explorer. It just doesn't work that way." I really wish the defense witness had been allowed to demonstrate just how modular XP embedded is...
I am the very model of a modern major general!
1. Less functionality than XP Home? Ouch!
2. I suppose it'll maintain backward compatibility with the common bugs and viruses...
Do you have ESP?
Microsoft's problem in many parts of the world is that their US & Western European prices are dead-on-arrival. People who make $200/month are not about to cough up $199 for a copy of XP Pro. If they sell at a price that makes sense in Thailand, they get accused of "dumping". Piracy has little to do with the situation. Linux is available with no piracy required. With or without piracy, customers are not going to spend money they don't have.
If I were in charge of global marketing for Microsoft, I would create a country-specific version for certain target markets (like Thailand). It would be cosmetically "dumbed down" and priced to sell. Of course, any of the features that are not included in the base install can probably be downloaded from microsoft.com in about 30 seconds. You can't be accused of dumping if the product in question isn't sold anywhere else.
Maybe time for MS to stop putting so much effort into their products.
EMail: 0110001101100010010000000110001101110010 0110000101111010011011100110000101110010 0010111001100011011011110110
Does this mean it will actually run fast?
[blue] - The Ministry of Information approved this message...
Windows Light, now with more holes....
[blue] - The Ministry of Information approved this message...
Perhaps it doesn't allow one to upgrade to a newer version. They'll have to just buy the full version of "Longhorn Lite" or something alone those lines.....
But he also pointed out that because of the complexity of an operating system, reducing functionality was not a simple process and every modification would have to be thoroughly tested
I'm sure if Mr McBean uses anything else than Windows, he would know of such a thng called modularity
Carpe Diem: Seize The Day!
...and keep the recursion going...
MS still isn't trendy.
won't it break the OS? I mean the told a judge that there OS couldn't be broke apart.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I don't have the tonal accents but the above sentence means "New wood doesn't burn, does it?
For those wishing for a reduced install, LitePC lets you 'uninstall' a great many things - IE, OE, Messenger, Windows Update, MSN Explorer, Media Player, etc.
Disclaimer - I am NOT a LitePC employee, just a user, who was impressed.
What exactly has MS been doing for the past 8 years if it wasn't to try and address the first-time PC market ! Mr McBean is really dishing out the marketting shit at that interview. I can almost envisage Redmond's finger up his arse wiggling it in lipsync.
How MS cripple their products is very strategic and solely to keep revenue intact by market segmentation. Its nothing to do with satisfying a new market segment.
WinXP home was crippled in subtle ways that a home user wouldn't even notice except if they expected to do certain things. The simple task of not being able to sync folders or join domains. The folder sync is really annoying for home users as it means that its harder to protect documents.
Something tells me that these two things were simple registry hacks and required very little testing to develope !
I think if you removed IE, Outlook Express, Active Desktop, Windows Media Player, and Digital Rights Management from Windows, it would be far LESS crippled, and actually MORE valuable.
For those wishing for a reduced install, LitePC lets you 'uninstall' a great many things - IE, OE, Messenger, Windows Update, MSN Explorer, Media Player, etc. Disclaimer - I am NOT a LitePC employee, just a user, who was impressed.
What's On Your Network ??? http://www.open-audit.org/
Did anyone else click on the bangkokpostjobs link just to see if anything was cookin? Hey my resume looks pretty damn good when it gets run through babelfish...
..Basically they're just using Windows XP home edition
---- "Excuse me. Where's the children's gun section?"
If this is XP light, then by implication, the current XP is "XP dark". Hmmm. No surprises there, except that they've finally admitted it.
Protoplasm. Quiet Protoplasm. I like quiet protoplasm.
If they 'overcharge' their product, their exploiting their monopoly. If they charge market price, they are 'colluding'. If they undercharge they are using 'predatory pricing' to grab market share. Short of distributing free Mandrake CDs with the same gusto as AOL, I don't think MS can make a move that won't be criticized.
Corporations: your universal scapegoat for all society's ills.
True --
But consider! MS is going for complete computing noobs here. Looking at the mailing lists, Linux can be befuddling for power users. It took me my own good time to figure some things out, no thanks to spotty documentation.
And therein lies the rub -- MS may suck donkey balls in a lot of ways, but they do a good job of holding noob hands with decent documentation. Unless and until some Linux distro can do the same, and still for that same magic price (and in Thai, Laotian, Swahili, what have you), I think this move by MS presents a genuine threat of incursion into undeveloped mental real estate.
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
My xp is crippled so Microsoft does'nt have to send it to Thiland they can have mine.
No-I'm not a robot-wa6ffv is my ham radio call sign and 1927 is my year of birth so you see I'm an old Nerd.
My friends call me Al
BCingU have fun.
Simply put:
MS Lawyer: Mr G, do well tell DoJ Windows cannot be seperated Internet Explorer?
BillG: Yes
Embedded VP: Do we allow vendors to pick which parts of the OS to include, such leaving out IE?
BillG: Yes
Dr. Evi: Ok, throw me a friggin' bone here. You say IE is inseperable, then you don't?
G: It's whatever I say it is f00!
If they charge too much their exploiting their monopoly.
If they charge market price, they are 'colluding'.
If they undercharge they are using 'predatory pricing' to grab market share.
Short of distributing free Mandrake CDs with the same gusto as AOL, I don't think MS can make a move that won't be criticized.
Corporations: your universal scapegoat for all society's ills.
"In an exclusive interview last week, Mr McBean said that the ICT PC project had brought to Microsoft the reality and scope of the new market that first-time PC users around the world presented, and that the company had then looked at how it could best address this."
heh, sounds like they just got tired of 3rd world countries and/or poorer countries turning to Linux for all of their needs and needed something to counter it. How many stories have we seen on here about South American countries, China, etc...
We seldom regret saying too little but often regret saying too much.
keke
ugh, not again
wut? u like me? kekekekekeke
Chicks dig my good /. karma.
Internet cafe's are all the rage in Thailand. Nobody really owns PC's/laptops, and really can't to afford anyway. The only applications people really seem to use is IE, AIM, and word. The younger generation is into games, but that only requires directx these days.
Only the tourists load/use progams that require a fully functional Windows box. Me thinks this is MS's way of bridging the gap between CE & XP from a revenue point of view, since no one can afford CE based devices either.
Oh the horror of it all. What is next? Solitaire is gone?
I can't afford a sig!
Blue Icon of Death
Table-ized A.I.
They're paying a development team...
... to change an already-written OS...
... to make it less functional ...
... and sell it for less money.
Rather than just selling the original for less money. And people talk about open source business models being stupid...
All's true that is mistrusted
...Is how, if they have to create a new version (this means paying people to do it) they can sell it for less..:)
Marxist evolution is just N generations away!
They need a new name different from "WinXP" but related to it? How about we drop the "X" and get "WinP"?
I'm a user (win and linux) from Argentina. I can tell you that if you install some dll from Spanish version into English one (or the other way around) you could break your system or leave it very unestable. The Windows version I use, is the English one, because the patchs are first released in English (some patchs take up to 2 weeks to appear in Spanish).
Another problem regarding i18n: MS doesn't sell English version in Argentina because the EULA should be in the local language (to be enforsable). I was told that by a MS seller, I am not sure it is true, but it sounds pretty logic.
DNA in your Linux: DNALinux
man...they make it easier and easier to mock microsoft.
Hell, even the pirated versions, which are subsequentially more functional than this "crippled" version, is still cheaper. Though it's Windows and I can't really recommend it for the security conscious.
It seems to me that Microsoft are going about this completely insane. They realize that Thai pc users have little money to spend on an Operating system. So Microsoft says okay, well spend MORE money in an attempt to bring you a cheaper lesser quality product than what we already offer. Why the fuck couldn't they just give a discount on their already available OS's ? why the need for another, if its just to make it cheaper, and it costs them a lot to do it, it seems like a better idea to cut your losses and sell XP home on the cheap :)
Like WinXP home and professional, there is a program out there (cough.. NTswitcher) which changes a couple registry settings and poof... home becomes identical to professional. As was the same with the windows 2000 series, I am pretty sure XP light is the same thing regardless of what M$ marketing saids.
Check it out
Me give you BSOD long time
I just don't understand why MS is spending money on creating a new version of Windows (and forking the development, in theory) which will cost less. If they are going to charge less for it, why not put less work into this version? Seems like MS would be better off just selling plain old Windows XP Home, and maybe just going with cheaper materials to ship it.
You sure as hell had better make some changes to the software for the next version! You can't just sell the same product in a new box and call it an upgrade! Well, I suppose it's better than AOL's claims that version x lets you connect to the internet faster than version (x-1). After all, 56kbps is - wait, no, I guess 56kbps is only 53kbps. Wow, all this computer stuff is a pain in the ass to keep track of.
I really hate signatures, but go to my website.
You can buy any version of XP or any other software from MS for 100 baht per CD ($2.50). The piracy there is amazing, 5 floor building and its all pirated, any piece of software you need.
I wonder what exactly 'reduced functionality' will mean? No more 'security loopholes' allowing 'power users' to use machines as remote gateways? :P
:P
Kidding aside, I wonder what exactly they plan on stripping out. Personally (as others here have mentioned as well), I'd love to see a version of XP, minus all the GUI tweaks, 'tools' that nobody uses (sans defrag), IE, WMP, and the like. I imagine that, if it's in the least bit operable, and it's available in English, it would see widespread pirating due to the suckyness of XP.
Then again, it might just be their way of saying it's going to have fully implimented DRM
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
Not?
One could hope...
I'm in a Unix state of mind.
I've noticed other people's flippant replies to this, but it is a big issue.
Administrator is supposed to be the Windows functional equivalent to root - so why the hell do I keep getting told "Insufficient Privelidgeds" when I'm running Admin?
TiggsI always though the idea of Superuser permissions was so that you could override the OS if you had to.
Tiggs
"120 chars should be enough for everyone..."
I advise you to turn yourself into authorities when you come back to the states, you pervert.
So things like Windows Media Player and iExplorer are removed.... or increased I wonder :)
A blog I run for the wealth
In Thailand you can already get Windows XP full for the cost of a blank CD! Maybe this is the model they will use to make Windows cheaper than Linux?
maybe it'll ship without Windows Media Player and without Internet Explorer! That would make 2 continents happy :D
If Windows XP sold in the US for $50 a copy(In a dual full/upgrade version, people would be complaining about Windows nearly so much? I would say not...it would also greatly reduce piracy of Windows.
I thought Microsoft had argued in many court cases that removing anything from Windows would break it completely so it wouldn't work anymore? So how will they go about crippling their flagship?
Light Blue Screen of Death!
:)
That'll do nice with a change...
This has nothing to do with cost at all. Microsoft is up against the wall in the far east. China has already given Bill the finger and his crapped his pants. He just lost a potential 1 Billion copies of Windows XP sales. If Thiland and then India is next there goes another Billion. I am sure India with it's large programming operations will still go with M$ but when they go home at night and fire up a Linux platform it is just less money for Mr. Gates. This is Microsoft running scared from a group of region of people who will not bow to Microsoft's whims and use there OS because he said to. Late
Microsoft has actually been selling it since June 2003. Andrew McBean (MS Thailand's managing director, if you didn't RTFA) was, er, inaccurate.
BTW, this also neatly allows them to get around the one-price policy -- it's still a single price world-wide for XP, but a restricted version, well, that's different.
Because it's what the market will bear?
There are four boxes used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order.
1. Release the Crippled Windows XP
.
2. The pirates copy it like mad.
3. People use the pirate copy eventually upgrade to the full version of Windows XP, stolen or purchased - it doesn't matter.
4. Linux development, distribution, and adoption is slowed down - or crushed.
5. Now Microsoft is using Pirates as Marketers to crush the Linux competition, and protect the main product line. (i.e. free labor)
6. Keep selling more of the full WinXP to those who want to / are forced to - buy it.
7. Profit ! ! !
It follows the same MS logic as:
Paying fines for monopoly behavior by dumping tons of free product on schools and children... attempting to crush Apple and Linux by sealing the minds of children into the Windows Matrix forever and ever...
Go ahead and mod this up
If MS chooses to sell software considerably cheaper in Thailand (taking into account that costs are lower out there), it massacres any argument they may have that suggests that Windows XP is fairly priced in the EU, thus opening up the concept of the EU fixing prices for MS in the realm of operating systems.
I appear to have a blog. Odd.
Good point. Though I have a question: how can somebody "price fix" their own product? I thought price fixing only applied to companies working together to keep prices high. I mean, you don't see them accusing Ferrarri of price fixing a Modena, right?
There are four boxes used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order.
In this case, the EU has found that Microsoft has an effective monopoly on preinstalled desktop computer operating systems (nearly everyone uses MS), and that they've abused that effective monopoly to try and block competitors in the media player market. All that's left is to determine a suitable punishment; given that US customers will be upset if they are paying much more than their British counterparts, and that OEM Windows is a major moneyspinner for them, MS cannot risk the EU drawing the conclusion that MS could afford to run its OEM OS business on smaller margins, and that that would be suitable punishment.
I appear to have a blog. Odd.
You're forgetting something: it's THAI Windows. In other words, even if you switch the language to English you'll find that the help file and menus are in Thai. And just to make it more exciting, the number of entries in the menu do NOT always match.
;-).
Been there (literally), done that. Much better idea to just kick the habit and install Linux
Windows: because other lemmings use it..
Insert
With a crippled product for Thailand, Microsoft is indeed differentiating its traditional market, which implies its monopoly power is slipping. Consequently this post should be modded +5, Insightful.
.......... kris
"I thought I could organize freedom. How Scandinavian of me."
What I find amusing is that they're so sure that these impoverished people will prefer their cut-rate Windows over Linux. Really now? Windows comes with practically nothing as it is; a calculator, paint, 4 little games, a cd player, WMP and the worst browser in existence. How much of that is going to be cut out? Same goes with their cut-rate Office.
Compare that to the average 2- or 3-cd distro of Linux, where you get open office, not one but several media apps, the gimp, at least 20 games, and a bunch of other programs, keeping in mind that most people in these countries can't afford even what we consider cheap software.
Sure, there's free software for Windows to download online, but most of it sucks next to what Linux-users take for granted (I know from experience), and what kind of internet connection will be available in these places anyway? A 3-cd distro like Mandrake can be downloaded even though it'll take a long time, and then passed around - or maybe someone from elsewhere can give a few copies to people there. After that, they don't need to be hunting for stuff online to download and acquiring a ton of spyware and viruses while doing so. Think about it - if they have Windows and don't download stuff, then about all their computer will be useful for is playing solitaire; assuming that's not one of the programs that gets cut out, of course.
I dream of a better world... one in which chickens can cross roads without their motives being questioned.