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MS Plans Low-Cost Windows for Brazil
Atryn writes "According to this C|NET article, Microsoft is planning to release its XP Starter Edition in Brazil. Could the pressure of Brazil's overtures toward Linux be forcing Microsoft Brasil to compete?"
Warning...troll on a karma raising mission.
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And this doesn't even take distribution of wealth into account. According to the above mentioned source 25% of Brazil's population are below the poverty line. In reality, it's much more (they are notorious for not keeping track of economical data or even just plain making stuff up).
So you have a small upper class, a small middle class, a huge blue collar working class (with many people out of work) and a lot of people unaccounted for.
If you're living on $741 a month, do you really spend $36 on a license you essentially don't need (since there's no enforcement in Brazil). Also, consider that those $36 are 20% of your monthly income (not of your monthly disposable income).
I don't really get who the folks at Microsoft think their target audience is. The upper class can afford XP Pro/Home licenses. They've either already purchased those (probably OEM licenses) or simply don't care. Anyone outside that demographic just won't be able to afford a Starter license, even if they wanted to.
Microsoft also doesn't want you running this if you don't have a ****-box PC. 128 RAM max?
Yeah, either that, or... you could, you know... Just not buy their software. Or buy it second-hand.
Send lawyers, guns, and money!
Microsoft got a "deal" with our Mother f^D^D^D^D^D^D^Dminister of economy, and the same plan, will come with windows XP home pre-installed. Result: the machines will cost 150u$s more than in Brazil. (They are lousy celerons) :)
By the way...I am a high-payed programmer, my salary is about 800u$s, even I can't afford Windows. Posting from ubuntu
If Microsoft does indeed have monopoly power (e.g., they face a downward sloping demand curve) then they would maximize their profits by price discrimination. Price discrimination means charging each group of customers the maximum amount that they are willing or able to pay for the product or service. This is the winning strategy for any monopoly assuming that they are not legally restricted from price discriminating. Thus, this type of behavior by Microsoft is not surprising, but rather entirely expected as per the textbook examples of unrestricted monopolies.
"On the other hand, only three applications simultaneously? Opening up the process manager, I see 54 running processes"
;) ).
First off, and I know this sounds cheap, but is there really anything *wrong* with only being able to run three apps simultaneously?
I've been thinking about writing an app which would limit the number of apps I could keep open, mostly in attempt to mitigate the technology-produced ADD I seem to have developed since I started multitasking in Desqueview and my Unix dialup account "back in the day."
Also, Windows is a little different from *nix in the sense that, although an application is a process, a process is *not* necessarily an application. It's a weird distinction, but it's there.
Taking a look at my process list, I can see all kinds of crap - I have 69 processes listed right now, and I'm clueless as to what most of them are doing..
However, if I go to the *Applications* tab of Task Manager rather than the *Processes* tab, I can see that I only have four apps open (already over the Brazil limit
So most of those processes don't count toward the limit.
- Rory [Microsoft Employee] | Free dirt: neopoleon.com
The celeron processors have a smaller L2 cache than their equiv pentium processor. L2 cache being SRAM is expensive to produce, so removing it (well, actually, not producing it on the chip in the first place) actually reduces the production cost.
From what I remember of the 486SX/DX thing, the DX had an on-chip FPU but the SX didn't - or in fact the SX did, but due to manufacturing process, the FPU was damaged and so disabled. So they either sell them for less, or they bin them.
This is totally different from stripping out/disabling parts of code from a piece of software (which costs extra for MS to do).
-2A
The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
Windows 2000 will run very well in 128MB if you limit yourself to programs from the year 2000. Stay away from bloatware like Mozilla and Office 2003 and you'll be fine.
BeatrIX Linux.
Four Apps.
That's it.
(with apt-get of course.)
Small, Simple, Elegant.
www.watsky.net
This idiot 'redswinglinestapler' is copying comments from previous articles and posting them verbatim. Please add to your foes list and mod the shithead into oblivion whenever you get the chance.
Example, here's a comment I posted.
Spot the difference
For more incriminating evidence check out the user page
For all intensive porpoises your a bunch of rediculous loosers
This idiot 'redswinglinestapler' is copying comments from previous articles and posting them verbatim. Please add to your foes list and mod the shithead into oblivion whenever you get the chance.
Example, here's a comment I posted.
Spot the difference
For more incriminating evidence check out the user page All of this user's comments have been plagiarised.
For all intensive porpoises your a bunch of rediculous loosers
This computer is more near R$1.400 (US$540) than US$1.400. And I am taking into accout pieces bought on legitimate stores (that pays the importation tax) at Nort East region, that spends a big deal on transportation.
Rethinking email
Sadly true. This site explains what's going on.
$200 million to secure the *FIRST* 1 million users.
You mean first 1 million addicts.
Remember boys, the first hit is always free. You know that the free hit is just a cost of doing business.
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.