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Windows XP Starter Edition Snubs P4, Athlon

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the for-starters-only dept.

Apu writes "CNET is reporting that Microsoft's Windows XP Starter Edition operating system specifically checks the result of the CPUID instruction on bootup and fails to continue if a Pentium 4 or Athlon processor is detected."

17 of 705 comments (clear)

  1. Low-cost and entry-level by fembots · · Score: 5, Interesting

    it is designed for low-cost, entry-level desktop PCs running value-based processors

    This is fine as long as MS provides a patch when P4 or AMD64 is considered low-cost and entry-level.

    --
    Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
  2. That's nothing! by DuranDuran · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's nothing! My copy of WinXP fails to continue if any kind of CPU is detected!

    --
    "You can justify anything by putting it in quotes, adding a famous name and making it a sig" - Albert Einstein
  3. Low end only by wiredlogic · · Score: 5, Funny

    But will it run on a 386?

    --
    I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
  4. Perhaps a strange suggestion, but... by Ieshan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    On your second point, I think that Microsoft ought to have an option for screens to go black on errors.

    Microsoft Operating Systems are used daily in environments where it really isn't useful to display large blue screens with technical error information. Printing that information to a file crit_error.dat and displaying a black screen will be much less obtrusive and obvious in what you call "high traffic areas", and probably wont add much tech time.

    Just a thought I had upon reading your post. It doesn't really *solve* the problem, it just makes it more "friendly" to these sorts of microsoft displays.

    1. Re:Perhaps a strange suggestion, but... by macdaddy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Unless of course the blatently obvious applies. I would have to say that close to half of the Windows machines I see on a daily basis (including my own!) use a blank screen as their screensaver. Also don't forget that all Energy Star-compliant monitors will turn the display off after a certain period of time. I would much rather see a user get a blue screen than arbitrarily giving their computer the one-finger salute every time their screen saver kicks in or their monitor goes into energy saver mode. I can just imagine the helpdesk tickets and support calls now: "My computer locks up every day while I'm at lunch!" or "Every morning when I come in my computer has locked up."

    2. Re:Perhaps a strange suggestion, but... by stevey · · Score: 5, Informative

      Of course when the machine is in such a mess that it decides to blue-screen you're probably not going to trust it to write a file.

      After all it might have crashed because it encountered a strange filesystem error - and writing to it could trash your whole disk.

      There have been similar suggestions for the Linux Kernel; write information somewhere when the kernel panics, but they are usually shot down for the same reason.

      When a machine is in the 'panic' state writing to the local disks, or sending stuff across the network isn't usually feasible. (True some people have done it but its a hard problem - because you can't actually rely upon the kernel to do anything correctly when it's mid-panic).

    3. Re:Perhaps a strange suggestion, but... by g0at · · Score: 5, Informative

      The Mac OS X writes data to the machine's NVRAM on kernel panic, which is then retrievable and interpretable once the system reboots.

      -ben

      --
      myselfmusic
    4. Re:Perhaps a strange suggestion, but... by Curtman · · Score: 5, Funny

      the real solution would be to go to a more reliable operating system

      You misspelled more reliable operating system.

    5. Re:Perhaps a strange suggestion, but... by Nogami_Saeko · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Actually, this reminds me of an old trick we developed to use on the Amiga on a public-access cable channel. The software was under development and crashed occasionally, so rather than having a flashing "guru meditation" up on a local TV channel until it was rebooted the next day, we came up with a plan, that would probably work on a Windows machine as well (or just about any other system)

      The idea was that while the software application was running, it drove a continuous 1khz tone out the audio port that kept a relay energized (that kept the signal on-air). When the system crashed, the audio output stopped, which meant the relay was no longer energized = video signal switched back to a stock SMPTE bars signal from a test generator.

      Something similar could probably be developed fairly easily for other machines - if the system freezes/BSODs, the audio stops (hopefully not looping ala a video game crash), and a relay could trip the reset switch on the front of the computer and auto-reboot it, could power it down, or any number of other applications.

      It was a very, very simple hardware project to engineer and worked flawlessly (unlike my software at the time) ;P

      N.

      --
      "Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." - Charles de Gaulle
    6. Re:Perhaps a strange suggestion, but... by connect4 · · Score: 5, Funny

      The Mac OS X writes data to the machine's NVRAM on kernel panic, which is then retrievable and interpretable once the system reboots.

      Well, Linux flashes this information out of the keyboard lights in Morse Code

      So There!

  5. Microsoft CEMENT by macdaddy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't forget Microsoft CEMENT. (Alternate link)

  6. Not arbitrary. Calculated. by team99parody · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I think Microsoft is well aware of what it's doing.

    It's the same as having MSDE being a crippled SQLServer that limits the nubmer of threads it can run. Surely the CPU could handle more threads; but they cripple it so that more people buy the bigger one.

    This Pentium4/Athlon decision makes perfect sense - if someone can afford the higher-end processor, they can afford the higher priced OS.

  7. Probably to prevent competition... by Xeroc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It seems there doing this to prevent PC Manufacturers from bundling it with the cheaper end of the higher-end PCs - probably because buisnesses and others who need a lot but don't need all the full features, would want it, as it is about half as expensive as Home edition, and a lot cheaper than Professional.

    If they let it run, then, it would effectively compete with their full versions, hurting their profits!

    --
    "Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write it should be hard to understand."
  8. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  9. Why this won't work by alphakappa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Having lived in India, I can tell you why this won't work. The users who pirate Windows are not people who need computers only for basic word processing - they are proper users who use computers as part of their lifestyle, much like people elsewhere in the world do. They do not like their OS to be crippled in any way.
    Why then, you ask, do they have to pirate Windows? The reason is cost: A user can afford to spend $100-$200 for a legal copy of Windows in the US, but in India due to the exchange rate it becomes a huge amount! It's comparable to the actual price of the desktop, and note that people spend a large fraction of their income to buy a desktop in the first place. Microsoft does not price their software according to purchasing power, instead it does a straight conversion of $$ to Rupees.

    If Microsoft offers a cheaper Windows for a lesser price, people will just keep pirating the 'proper' OS for free. And sometime later, they will migrate to Linux when they find that Linux can offer them pretty much the same functionality. If MS wants people to use Windows and PAY for it, all they need to do is offer an uncrippled OS for a price that is affordable in India.

    Note to Microsoft: People don't want to buy your crippled software, even if it cheap.

    --
    "When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail." - Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
  10. Re:Marketing Geniuses by OverflowingBitBucket · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Crippleware is what I call it.

    Happens to be one of the reasons I don't use much commerical software, and kind of avoid it like the plague.

    Indeed, that is an appropriate name for it too. But sometimes relying on human nature isn't enough. Humans can be such terribly selfish things. ;)

    For example, I developed my software full-time over eighteen months. This wiped out my savings and left me in a fair amount of debt. It is a bit unreasonable to expect a single person to shoulder the entire burden of the development when a number of people reap the benefits. Hence I sell the software. Maybe one day I will make enough back to try this whole crazy experiment again. ;) But I can't just give away the uncrippled version and rely on kindness. One shining example of this related to one of the beta testers for the software. He loves the games, plays them all the time apparently. Submitted no feedback, and has no intention of pitching in for the final release because the beta was uncrippled. Whoops. And he's not the only one. People are very good at taking if there is no benefit to giving. Now if I could count on the generosity of enough people, who cares if most people benefit for nothing? But the problem is that I can't.

    As for avoiding crippleware, I'd have to disagree. What I can't stand is when people sell something without giving you a chance to try it out beforehand. That really sucks. Time limitations are a pain too, I hate the presumption that I can dedicate 30 days to trying something out; my free time is limited and sporadic. But trial versions are a good thing. Certainly something to be encouraged. Much better than nothing at all.

  11. Creative writing 101 by interstellar_donkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    Marketing person #1: You know, we have a real problem with piracy in developing nations.

    Marketing person #2: Why is that?

    Marketing person #1: I'm not sure. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that our OS costs more then most families make in a month.

    Marketing person #2: If they're poor, why do we even want them as customers?

    Marketing person #1: Because they're probably not going to be poor forever. Plus, there's like a billion people in India alone.

    Marketing person #2: A billion? Please, we're professionals here. Stop making up numbers like "billion" or "gazillion".

    Marketing person #1: Sorry about that. But there *are* lots and lots of people there. I think most of them do tech support for Dell computers for like a dollar a day.

    Marketing person #2: Wow. That is a lot. Well, we have to figure out a way to make money off them.

    Marketing person #1: I just got a great idea! Let's strip out some of the functions of our operating system and sell it really, really cheap over there.

    Marketing person #2: Awesome idea, dude. We can call it "Windows Jr."

    Marketing person #1: I don't know about that name... it sounds too much like IBM's PC Jr. and nobody liked that product. I mean, wireless keyboards? What kind of crazy person would want that?

    Marketing person #2: The PC jr? That was released like a gazillion years ago. What are you, 30 or something?

    Marketing person #1: Shhhh!!! I'm 31, but the boss thinks I'm 23.

    Marketing person #2: I'll keep my mouth shut if you buy us drinks after work, old man. How about we call it "Windows XP: The Revenge of the Sith". Wait, no, even better, "Windows XP: The Starter Edition"

    Marketing person #1: That's way better! I would have never thought of that on my own. I guess it's because I'm so old.

    Marketing person #2: I see a problem though. How can we strip down a product when 95% of our users never use the extras we bundle with Windows to begin with?

    Marketing person #1: We could pull out Internet Expolorer

    Both: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

    Marketing person #2: That's rich old man. But seriously, how can we do it?

    Marketing person #1: We can make sure it only runs on obsolete computers.

    Marketing person #2: Of course!! Celerons, Durons... poor people use those, right?

    Marketing person #1: Heck if I know. I'm not poor.

    Marketing person #2: Then it's settled. We'll make a version of Windows XP, remove the "calculator" and "MS paint" applications, and sell it to poor people. We can even market it as an upgrade to Windows ME.

    Marketing person #1: Didn't you get the memo? We want people to use ME. That was one of the clauses with Gates' contract with the devil.

    Marketing person #2: Whatever. Let's go to the bar.

    --
    The Internet is generally stupid