MS launches Windows Starter Edition with PC at Rs 18,900
In a move to target the first time users and make PCs more affordable, Microsoft today announced the launch of its personal computer with Windows XP Starter Edition in Hindi, priced at Rs 18,900, in India.
Microsoft India has also tied up with a few nationalised banks for finance schemes – so now you can take home a PC with a down payment of Rs 3,780 and pay Rs 399 over 48 months as EMI. Sounds good…
However, The starter edition offers Wordpad, Internet Explorer, Outlook and Media Player with a Hindi user interface. However, it does not contain MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other MS Office packages. In order to use these software, users need to buy MS Office package. While the Hindi MS Office Student and Teachers Edition costs about Rs 7,200, the English Student and Teachers Edition (a basic edition) costs around Rs 6,500, company representatives said. So is this news not about the price as I initially thought but about the Hindi version?
After having debated and fought for long over simputer/laptop vs Rs.10000 computer desktop (with fully loaded hindi/localised language based opensource office applications), I cant agree that it “Sounds good…”. Instead of this, I would gladly settle with the simputer (which I was passionately disputing just a couple of weeks back)
Here are the limitations of Windos XP Starter edition:
1. It has maximum resolution of 800*600 which is minimum in normal Windows XP.
2. Currently it can run only in celeron and not in Pentium PC. Thogh this will be fixed in the upcoming service packs.
3. Most importantly it allows running 3 programs or having 3 open windows at a time. So what do you choose?
Firewall/Antivirus – Any one in touch with computers will accept that without these (and sometimes with these) windows pc’s are easily compromised. So this needs to be running all the time.
It leaves us with just two slots available for running programs at any given time.
So while a student it preparing some presentation – browser for accessing internet and notepad for saving data, he cant listen to music or even check his emails 🙁
Techies will go for free OS like Linux or BSD. Non techies will still continue to “buy” pirated “normal” Windows XP.
After all what is the point in plumping 10% of the budget to purchase a “crippled” OS?
Dheepak, I feel that for an entry level product such as this, this basic configrations sounds good enough – it IS a starter edition after all – don’t think of high end users as yourself but of people wanting to buy a computer for more basic usage…