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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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Microsoft is notorious for bundling things to cause lock-in.
How are they going to balance that with creating a light version of XP?
I would like to get my hands on one of these if it does not include all the applications i dont need - windows messenger , internet explorer, Outlook express. Just the basic UI. I can customize it the way i need. Lesser the functionality, more secure the box will be.
Siggy Say, Siggy Do
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 $50.
The pirates will still pirate! DUH
It happened with music. People bantered this whole "when the music companies get a realistic business model and stop charging highway robbery for 1 or 2 good songs yada yada and rest is filler". When iTunes and other services popped up "copyright infringement" (as they candidly call it) didn't stop or slow down. That was just the vocal point they argued for now they will find something else. Before it was fair use. Next it will be "I don't think artist x deserves a mansion so I can judge how much is enough for them" or some crud.
Customers of this new entry level version of Windows would be presented with a clear and easy upgrade path to both Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional, he added.
...
In France, tobacco companies have started selling packs of cigarettes containing only 19 cigarettes instead of 20. A "crippled" pack of smokes in a sense. Why? so that those who can't afford full-size packs since the latest price rises (read: kids and teens) can buy the 19 cigarette pack and get hooked.
Sounds like Microsoft is doing exactly that with poor countries: snare customers then pull on the knot. "buy our cheapo limited software, then when you need more functionalities, it'll be a lot more expensive to ditch Microsoft and go for free-software than pay for the Microsoft upgrade".
But I guess it's business as usual, all companies do that sort of thing, not just Microsoft, I'm not shouting evil-M$ 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
Am I the only one who thinks this is to keep Linux and other free operating systems out of third world countries? In that sense it would be a strategic move.
Looks like Microsoft is finally listening to their poorer customers.
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Try reading the article. Windows XP Home was still too expensive for these users in Thailand. I seriously doubt you'll be able to get it outside of some OEM deals on computers sold in Thailand so I wouldn't get so enthused over this.
The pro-Linux camps, however, have something to worry about here. Basically, Microsoft is willing to create a cut-rate version of XP rather than risk the users there switching over to Linux....
It's funny, people complain about how MS forces you to install everything (IE, Outlook, etc) and call in "anti-competitive" and when they offer it somewhere with these things stripped out it's called "crippled". There's no winning the article poster or OP, it seems.
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I would like to get my hands on one of these if it does not include all the applications i dont need - windows messenger , internet explorer, Outlook express. Just the basic UI. I can customize it the way i need. Lesser the functionality, more secure the box will be.
It sounds like you want windows XP embedded. For the embedded market, MS lets you pick & choose which parts of the OS you want.
Strangely enough, MS also says that this is completely impossible for the regular version, and that IE cannot be separated from the OS.
It's highly likely that one of the tweaks they're making to this "light" version is to lock it to the Thai language. If you want to use English, you must upgrade to the full-price XP Home at whatever the local equal to US$99 is...
My guess is that they are releasing a product with a price point that the market can bear. It kinda makes since economically. The alternative would be to release WinXP Home at the same relative prices that they are selling it for in the rest of the world. And have it not sell because it is too expensive based on the average earnings.
They could just sell XP Home at a reduced price but that would admit both the monopolistic practice of "same product - different price," depending on where you live, that movie studios and others have been accused of doing. Also, people would realize that the marginal cost of each addition copy sold of any software product is so low that the rest of the world will not stand for the prices that they are currently paying. After all, why would you want to pay $100 for a licensed copy of Win XP Home when you know that it is sold elsewhere for $10 and you are essentially paying for digital bits on a plastic disc that cost practically nothing to manufacture. Sure, the programmers have to get paid but doesn't $100 for your copy seem excessive? Therefore, avoid this scenerio and sell a crippled version. [My vote would be to "cripple" it by not including IE ]
I have not verified this, but I would imagine that computer hardware is generally cheaper in that part of the world and legal software makes up a higher percentage of TCO. This is probably just another factor.
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Actually, I am guessing the "crippled" comment was more of a troll for the original author. Its a sure way to get comments, but then again, thats not a problem on /.
I agree with the other posts, I wouldn't call this crippled if it runs the apps, I would call it streamlined. I would be interested in a copy, if they "crippled" out the media players and such. Im sure it still has IE tho, since they wont let you use windowsupdate with Firebird.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
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.
You're not serious, right? Just because they're forcing a different option doesn't mean that they aren't still forcing the choice.
I'm serious exactly because they're not "enforcing a different option", they're enforcing nothing -- they're taking stuff out, not replacing it with something else.
Since WMP, for example, isn't replace with WMP-lite.
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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 $6 for a Heineken but the college bar where my brother lives sells beer for 75 cents on tap...
...or the cell phone company letting you make free calls on weekends but charging you 25 cents/minute for weekdays...
Yeah. Gosh. supply. Demand. Different markets. Variable pricing strategies. Absolutely shocking. We simply must create laws so that the government can set fair prices for everyone.
I would have to say that explosives are the most abused technology in all of history.
when you can pirate the 'full' version for less?
isnt that what they do there?
Micro$oft could GIVE the 'lite' version away and STILL be in the same position.
It's a masterstroke, isn't it. Surely people will just pirate the US version? Or perhaps a most local one, if it's in a language they speak?
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.
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
all you have to do is "borrow" the MSIE COM .jar files. ;-) (haven't tried it though)
A friend just bought a radeon SE, got a firmware hack for it and it became a full radeon... Not sure what model, though (I was only half listening at the time) but it seems ATI only produce one board an cripple it for the cheaper end of the market.
There's more to it than that - I'm venturing they're releasing this in hopes that people will purchase something from them, not from the local "vendor" on the corner selling XP out of the back of his autorikshaw. That way they get a little money. The Linux thing is valid, but part of a larger picture.
I also reply below your current threshold.
Yeah, the full version costs a full $5 at Panthip Plaza in Krung Thep.
The World is Yours.
This is the same 10 user limit as in Windows 2000 Pro, but I *think* it's defeatable (in Win2K) with a registry hack. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
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...
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Win2k is 10, and I am not sure about NT4. I want to say it is like Win95, being the same interface without plug and play, meaning a default of 10 but changeable in the NetBeui properties (along with NCBS, which I have no idea is for). But I can't swear to NT4 or older. I have a copy of NT 3.1 around here somewhere, I could install and see I guess:) I know WfW 3.11 had no limitations, but was rather slow. At least it would network with Win95
There is no technical reason for the limitation, its purely a licensing thing. You know....
3. Profit!
Oh, on another point. I have a network with about 20 computers right now that needed a simple file server, so its got a P3/1ghz server running Windows 95, lol. The stations are all 98/ME/2k/pro. The 2k and pro boxes connect ok because I have file/printer sharing OFF on all the rest. They are more forgiving about connecting to a 9x "server". On a pure xp network, you just dont see the computers over the threshold. They don't exist.
And no, it was not easy getting 95 to run properly and semi secure on a newer box without proper drivers, but it runs well as long as you boot it every month (it runs out of seconds to count at about 39 days and like all 95, will autocrash then). And since it is firewalled off the net (hardware and software) it does the job. Oh, and yes, its even a licensed copy of 95.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
I would like to get my hands on one of these if it does not include all the applications i dont need - windows messenger , internet explorer, Outlook express.
This version of Windows has been around for a long time. It is called NT4.
Of course Microsoft should price products according to the target market, but given the doctrine of first sale, and the principles of free trade, if you can get a product legitimately for 1500 baht in Thailand, then that same product will become available everywhere for the same price.
Now you can either have free trade, or you can have fair regional pricing.
Personally, I'll take Linux.
oh brave new world, that has such people in it!
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
If policy allows, do yourself a favour and replace 95 on that server with e-smith linux. It was recently spun back to the community by Mitel and I've yet to see a more intuitive, simple Samba server.
I had played with samba and found the performance to be very good, but had trouble getting both 95 and 98 to connect. Now thats not an issue, since all the 95 boxes are gone. I am planning to move it over this summer (too busy this time of year). Had not heard of e-smith, tho, thanks for the lead.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
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.
That's interesting...I was at a LAN with 11 people, and we had 100% network functionality. Sharing files and all. All running various versions of XP. ...am I magic? Seriously. I believe you. But I believe me too.
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.
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
Take, for instance, the Quadro line of cards by nVidia. You are buying an intentionally crippled card everytime you buy a GeforceFX. Same hardware, sans a couple switched transistors and a slightly modified BIOS. In other words, they made the Quadro, and then crippled it to be the GeForce.
Interesting.
I wonder why the Quadro line is priced between $500 and $1800 while the GeForce line is priced between $40 and $500.
Those must be some mighty expensive transistors they removed...
To me that means either the professionals who buy the Quadro are being ripped off, or NVidia is losing money on the GeForce.
Still, it's true enough. The government doesn't seem to care at all about foreign copyrights. And these aren't underground operations either. This is all out for public display.
PS. $1US ~= 40 baht.
Hardware, software, and blinking lights!