Paul Thurrott Windows SuperSite have thrown up their review of Microsoft's Windows XP Starter Edition! Here's a snip.
In mid-2004, reports surfaced that Microsoft would soon ship an entry-level version of Windows XP, dubbed Windows XP Starter Edition, to customers in emerging markets such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia and India. Those markets, Microsoft said, needed locale-specific PCs that were easy to use, support, and sell. The response from tech press and analysts was immediate and damning. Reports referred to XP Starter Edition as "cut-rate," "cheap," "crippled," and even "futile." All of those reports, however, are completely wrong. And it's a sad statement on the state of modern tech reporting and analysis that so many people could be so cynical about a product they have never seen and don't know a thing about.
When Microsoft first announced Windows XP Starter Edition, I asked if I could review the product. However, because it is available only in certain language versions and is designed to run on inexpensive, low-end hardware, and be presented to users with absolutely no computer experience, Microsoft declined my request. However, the folks responsible for XP Starter Edition were nice enough to speak with me at length and, in December, separately demonstrate the product to me in person so that I could get a feel for what the company was doing. In this case, the truth about Windows XP Starter Edition bears little resemblance to what you may have read in the tech press. So here, for the first time, I believe, is the true story about what Microsoft hopes to accomplish with Windows XP Starter Edition.
Windows XP Starter Edition
In mid-2004, reports surfaced that Microsoft would soon ship an entry-level version of Windows XP, dubbed Windows XP Starter Edition, to customers in emerging markets such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia and India. Those markets, Microsoft said, needed locale-specific PCs that were easy to use, support, and sell. The response from tech press and analysts was immediate and damning. Reports referred to XP Starter Edition as "cut-rate," "cheap," "crippled," and even "futile." All of those reports, however, are completely wrong. And it's a sad statement on the state of modern tech reporting and analysis that so many people could be so cynical about a product they have never seen and don't know a thing about.
When Microsoft first announced Windows XP Starter Edition, I asked if I could review the product. However, because it is available only in certain language versions and is designed to run on inexpensive, low-end hardware, and be presented to users with absolutely no computer experience, Microsoft declined my request. However, the folks responsible for XP Starter Edition were nice enough to speak with me at length and, in December, separately demonstrate the product to me in person so that I could get a feel for what the company was doing. In this case, the truth about Windows XP Starter Edition bears little resemblance to what you may have read in the tech press. So here, for the first time, I believe, is the true story about what Microsoft hopes to accomplish with Windows XP Starter Edition.
Windows XP Starter Edition
