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Windows XP Starter to hit India in June
By siliconindia
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Tuesday, 15 March 2005, 20:30 IST
Bangalore: The low-cost Windows XP Starter edition will be released in India in June, a senior official of Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. said today.
Aimed at tackling the highly pirated Windows system with eight of ten users going to the grey market due to its high cost, Microsoft had included India as one of the pilot countries to test the starter edition, designed keeping in mind first time home PC users in developing technology markets.
Microsoft India Director (Business and Marketing Operations) Ranjivjit Singh said the product would be available in English and Hindi initially and would be subsequently available in ten other languages. It would target Original Equipment Manufacturers such as Acer, HCL, HP and Wipro, before looking to other users, including Government.
Microsoft had in September last year announced that the starter edition would be available in India in early 2005. But, language problems faced by the design team forced the delay in launch. It had already been introduced in a few South East Asian countries, including Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
Designed as a result of Microsoft's ongoing collaborations with international Governments, Windows XP Starter Edition Pilot Programme was part of Microsoft's comprehensive commitment to enable individuals, communities and countries to gain access to technology tools, skills and innovation they need to realise their potential.
Windows XP Starter Edition aimed at offering an affordable and easy-to-use entry point to the Windows family of products that is tailored to local markets, in local languages, and was compatible with a wide range of Windows-based applications and devices.
It featured a redesigned help system, called My Support, which included a built-in, detailed Getting Started Guide. In addition, it included a supplementary CD with local language instructional videos designed for first-time PC users.
With Windows XP Starter Edition, first-time home PC users could have up to three programmes and three windows per programme running concurrently. Further simplification of the operating system included the display resolution set to 800x600 maximum and no support for PC-to-PC home networking, sharing printers across a network or more advanced features such as the ability to establish multiple user accounts on a single PC.