Price cuts to stifle Linux adoption?
Microsoft has announced that its Windows XP operating system is to be available to manufacturers of ultra low-cost personal computers (ULCPCs) at a significantly reduced cost.
The ageing operating system, which continues to carry strong demand despite the launch of its successor, Windows Vista, will be offered to emerging markets such as China and India for just $26 and the rest of the world for $32. In addition, manufacturers eligible for Microsoft's Market Development will be offered a discount of up to $10, resulting in a potential Windows XP license cost of just $16.
There is, however, a catch. Microsoft doesn't want a low-cost XP to detract from its flagship Vista OS, and has therefore made clear that these discounted XP licenses will only be available to low-specification systems. In order for a ULCPC to be applicable, it must feature a single-core processor of up to 1GHz, a maximum of 1GiB of RAM, less than 80GiB of hard disk space and a screen size of no larger than 10.2in.
The price cuts are a clear indication of the Linux threat that has emerged from the large-scale adoption of low-cost systems such as the ASUS Eee PC. In order to keep costs of such systems to a minimum, manufacturers have utilised freeware Linux operating systems as opposed to Microsoft's expensive alternatives.
Related reading: Windows XP - the OS that refuses to pass quietly into the night
