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XP Starter Edition Examined

Posted by michael on from the windows-with-training-wheels dept.

de la mettrie writes "C-Net reports that analysts do not recommend using Microsoft's new 'Windows XP Starter Edition', a low-cost XP version aimed at the Asian market (and previously covered on Slashdot). The report notes that numerous networking features are removed, and the Starter Edition allows only three applications to be run concurrently. According to Microsoft, this limitation 'helps [users] stay organized and reduces confusion.'"

22 of 456 comments (clear)

  1. I'm going to be laughing at this one for days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Starter Edition allows only three applications to be run concurrently. According to Microsoft, this limitation 'helps [users] stay organized and reduces confusion.'"

    MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

    1. Re:I'm going to be laughing at this one for days by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well it certainly helps reduce any confusion in comparing it to a half-decent operating system.

    2. Re:I'm going to be laughing at this one for days by nial-in-a-box · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, and the fact that Windows needs about a dozen applications running at any time to even be usable is interesting. I assume by application we now exclusively mean only those processes that show up in the task bar. I'm also assuming there will continue to be no limit to the amount of junk apps that run in the system tray and are almost exclusively terrible. worthless drains of memory and CPU time.

      --
      I am feeling fat and sassy
    3. Re:I'm going to be laughing at this one for days by Matt+Perry · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Yes, and the fact that Windows needs about a dozen applications running at any time to even be usable is interesting. I assume by application we now exclusively mean only those processes that show up in the task bar.
      It won't take long to exceed that limit. An average student: Winamp, a word processor, a web browser. If the student needs to use his email for a moment, he'll have to close something. This will only encourage users to get a copy of the full Windows version so that they won't be limited in what they can do.
      --
      Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
    4. Re:I'm going to be laughing at this one for days by hawaiian717 · · Score: 5, Funny
      An average student: Winamp, a word processor, a web browser. If the student needs to use his email for a moment, he'll have to close something.

      Guess this hypothetical student will just have to use Mozilla Suite instead of the separate Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. Darn. ;)

      --
      End of Line.
    5. Re:I'm going to be laughing at this one for days by Blue+Stone · · Score: 5, Interesting
      John Lettice of The Register has an interesting take on the 'starter' edition:
      ...as Microsoft builds relationships with the local system builders it will become less and less feasible for businesses to get away with running pirate software. They'll be offered special upgrade deals to full versions, pulling them further into the 'ecosystem' too, and you can see clear parallels with the way Microsoft's sales efforts have progressed in the developed world.

      The plan, therefore, is not to eradicate piracy in consumer markets, but to fuel the development of a 'legitimate' market in government and business while throttling any prospect of open source developing its own markets in the area. Government and business will, as in the developed world, pay a goodly price to Microsoft for its software, while Microsoft will be able to increase the number of PCs that ship with its software (any software will do) and hence yield it the Microsoft tax. The actual entry price paid by government isn't (as in the developed world) particularly relevant, so long as it enters) and whatever the end user shoves on the machine isn't anything like as important as it is for Microsoft to pick up the rent from them as part of the machine's price (as, also, in the developed world).

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
  2. What I want to know... by BJH · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...is what Microsoft is trying to do with this release. It's obvious it won't help at all to stem the flow of pirate copies of the full version of XP, it certainly won't sell to businesses, and it'd be suicide for any hardware manufacturer to use it as their pre-loaded OS.

    1. Re:What I want to know... by djblair · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think MS will sleep soundly knowing NOBODY will pirate this OS.

    2. Re:What I want to know... by cpu_fusion · · Score: 5, Funny

      > What I want to know is what Microsoft is trying to do with this release.

      Microsoft market research had concluded that hatred for Microsoft was lowest in asia, so they pulled together, worked long nights, and have tackled that problem with the usual Microsoft gusto.

    3. Re:What I want to know... by praksys · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I suspect this is a negotiation move. MS complains to third world nation: "Do something about all the rampant piracy." Third world nation replies: "No one here can afford your software anyway, so the piracy is not cutting into your market." MS replies: "Now they can afford the starter/crippleware version, so it is cutting into our market."

    4. Re:What I want to know... by jez9999 · · Score: 5, Funny

      First, Microsoft created a non-multitasking OS.
      Then, they created a multitasking OS.
      Then, they created a pre-emptive multitasking OS.
      Now, they have created... a triple-tasking OS.

      It's not a step backward, honest!

      --
      == Jez ==
      Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
  3. Give them some credit! (Asians, not MS) by djblair · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "..this limitation 'helps [users] stay organized and reduces confusion.'"

    This new user base may be overseas, but they aren't retarded.

    1. Re:Give them some credit! (Asians, not MS) by The-Bus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, you work in tech support.

      The people that have NO problem using Windows aren't calling you. The people that have issues and are "retarded" are the ones that you're "helping" -- that doesn't mean all people are retarded.

      --

      Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

  4. In other news by cpu_fusion · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft went on to proclaim the security benefits of this latest release: "Only three instances of worms, spyware, and trojans can run at once!"

  5. Second-class Windows for Second-class Asia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    According to Microsoft, this limitation 'helps [users] stay organized and reduces confusion.'"

    Because the poor, simple peoples of Asia can't handle the complexities of the full versions of Windows XP? I, for one, am offended.

  6. You must be new here by teamhasnoi · · Score: 5, Funny
    Instead, because of the unnecessary limitations introduced in XPSE, Microsoft will likely be perceived as pushing an upgrade path and frustrating users.

    Isn't this in their mission statement or something?

  7. UOS by gcantallopsr · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've just developed the Ultimate Operating System. It further reduces confusion among users by issuing a HALT instruction right after a bare minimum startup. I've successfully tested it under x86 and x86-84, and I'm looking for PowerPC 32/64 developers. GNU GPL license. Most compact kernel ever (I call it vendeko-kernel). And no problems with drivers, since it doesn't need them!

    --
    Try Ubuntu GNU/Linux, it's great!!!
  8. Re:But of course by mkosmul · · Score: 5, Funny

    In the next version of slashcode, only three comments will be allowed for each post in order to reduce confusion among moderators.

  9. Re:Increased productivity by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 5, Funny
    Microsoft's new product: MS-DOS Reloaded?

    There are more advantages to DOS than just the simplicity of single-tasking. Before version 2.0, DOS didn't support directories. Could reverting to DOS 1.0 simplify searches and end user confusion over file system hierarchies as well? I think that the WinFS team should take a look.

    (Opens search dialog:) => Where is the 3rd quarter inventory report for Consolidated Products?

    (The animated dog instantly replies:) => It's on C:

  10. Design happens first, then marketing... by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Clearly, the three application to a session limitation and lack of networking were not features designed to make the OS simpler. They are limitations put in to intentionally criple functionality as that when a user sees a "starter edition" error message, they can also be presented with "That functionality is in the Home version. Please step up by paying..."

    Three is clearly an arbitrarly chosen number based on research and testing... the marketing people were then given the number to work with and then spin it.

  11. Price Discrimination and Piracy by dedoleo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Starter Edition sounds like a great example of legal price discrimination and turning a blind eye to piracy. Starter edition isn't exactly price discrimination. Price discrimination is when I charge a rich person $20 for a hamburger and a poor person $2 for the same hamburger, even though the hamburger cost me $1 to make. Why? Because I want all the money I can get from each person who can afford to pay. This is illegal. Starter Edition is not the same as Home or Professional, so it's not price discrimination, but the principal seems to be the same. Here's where the piracy comes in. Many people in California drive over the 65 speed limit on the freeway. In fact, you'll probably get honked at if you don't. You can even drive next to a cop at 75 with no problem. It's the unwritten law and what is expected. Publicly, Microsoft hates piracy, but to an extent, I believe they silently condone it. Here's why, and I'll use Adobe as an example. Some high school is playing with a pirated version of Adobe Photoshop at home. He can't afford Photoshop and none of his work is for profit or being sold. Adobe loses no money by his use of their product. Now, let's say he gets really good at Photoshop and some day goes pro. Either he, or his company, is going to buy Photoshop for him to use because 1) now he (or the company) has the money to make the purchase, and 2) it's the product that he knows. If he couldn't have pirated Photoshop back when he was a kid, he probably would have ended up using someone elses product and getting good at that. So, this type or piracy, though still illegal, is beneficial to Adobe. The real pirates they're trying to stop are the ones selling mass copies of their product. So this brings me to two, not necessarily exclusive, conclusions on Starter Edition. One) Starter Edition is a legal method similar to price discrimination to get any money possible from the Thais. Two) Starter Edition is a way to milk money from the piracy issue. People may buy this cheap OS instead of using Linux or pirating (because it's affordable). Then, having gained experience on the OS (similar to the high school kid with Photoshop) they will be more compelled to shell out for the full version than to switch to something they aren't accustomed to such as Linux. I feel the three application limit is not for simplicity, but to encourage an upgrade once the user gets used to Windows. An insightful poster earlier pointed out something good I hadn't considered that is relevant to piracy: This may simply be a Microsoft "tax" assuming that new computers come preloaded with Starter Edition. Even though the user is expected to install a pirated version of Windows anyway, they still payed a small increase for the system to be preloaded with Starter Edition.

    1. Re:Price Discrimination and Piracy by JayJayEm · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Since when is price discrimination illegal?

      You might want to let people like all the large cinema chains know who charge less for a ticket for a student, child or OAP even though that ticket gives them access to exactly the same product, which costs the cinema exactly the same to "produce".

      Price discrimination tends to assist the poorer consumer - if cinemas were unable to discriminate between students and adults the catch-all price would likely be unpalatably high for students.

      However, as you do rightly point out this is all irrelevant because Starter Edition is NOT an example of price discrimination - it is an entirely different (crippled) product.