fyi Microsoft Eyes More Markets For Stripped-Down Windows

All:

Pointer to article:
http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/windows/story/0,10801,98023,00.html?source=NLT_OS&nid=98023

Kobielus kommentary:
Windows, like all platforms, is having its profitability stripped away by commoditization, open source alternatives, and customer reluctance to participate in forced migrations. Microsoft acknowledges that inexorable trend by releasing this Windows stripped-down version at a lower price in these Asian markets than elsewhere—flexible global pricing (a slippery slope if there ever was one). The price of Windows and every other OS and platform component will continue to decline to absolute zero. It will see its revenue oxygen sucked away like a planetary system losing its sun. Call it the cruel Kelvin endgame.

As regards this functionally-constrained Windows desktop version for certain Asian countries plus Russia (which, of course, is also half-Asian), I don’t see much hope, at least in terms of its stimulating non-PC users to get with the program (yeah, yeah, pun intended). First of all, pretty much everybody in those national markets who wants/needs to use a PC already has one (they actually are in the modern age, and are populated by the same range of expert-to-clueless users as the US, Europe, or Japan). Second, non-PC users will usually go first (and perhaps exclusively) to handheld/mobile devices (for which, of course, Microsoft has yet another Windows version).

“Developing countries” have fully developed users in much the same ratio as other nations. Don’t condescend to them by pretending otherwise.

Jim