Microsoft Covers Up Slashed Xp For Thai Market

[george]

Microsoft covers up slashed XP

Spinsters call it a starter edition

THE SPINNERS at Microsoft have been having a trying time thinking what they are going to call the new cut price anorexic version of Windows XP they are peddling in Thailand.

The slimmer smaller Windows comes without any bells and whistles and has been in the shops in Thailand where it competes with Linux and sells for US $38 [ 1,500 Baht. ]

However, it has been software without a name as Microsoft didn’t really want to admit that it had a cut-price version to the rest of the world.

Now the Spinsters from the Lair of the Vole in deepest darkest Redmond have announced that it will be called the Windows XP Starter edition to imply that it is just for beginners.

A Microsoft spokesman said following a lot of work with the Thai government, the company was pleased to a tailored and localized Windows product that will help them in their efforts to enable access to technology for their citizens.

The Thailand Government Prime Minister Thaksin seems to be playing along with the idea saying on a radio show recently that this latest version of Windows XP was especially designed for beginners. However there is no indication that the software is any more user friendly than the full version of Windows, if anything it has less functionality because it does not contain all the usual windows add-ons.

However the software is seen as a obvious attempt to counter the free-bee Linux which has been doing fairly well in the Far East. However Microsoft could not dramatically drop its prices without users in other lands without losing face and seeing similar demands from its overseas clients.

Vole has refused to say if the cut-down version will be offered to other Western users who are also beginners, but we would not bet on it.

--Agencies 2004-06-24