Microsoft Corporation, the global PC software major, said that OEM sales of the Windows XP Starter Edition OS should commence by June 2005 in India.
The Windows XP Starter Edition is part of a pilot project by Microsoft to make computing more affordable for first level users in developing markets.
Speaking on the sidelines of a conference, held in Bangalore on Tuesday to announce the launch of Real Time Communication products for India, Ranjivjit Singh, director, marketing and business operations, Microsoft India, said, "It was originally meant to be launched in the first quarter of this year. There has been a slight delay but it should be available through OEMs by June this year."
He declined to give a figure on how much cheaper the OS will be in comparison with other Windows versions, saying that there will be a 'significant difference' and that the price will also depend on the OEMs. He added that Microsoft would be willing to work with small vendors or assemblers, depending on interest expressed by them.
The Starter Edition project was announced by Microsoft in 2004 for pilot introduction in a few markets. It is already available in countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Singh said that the launch in India would see the Starter Edition available in Hindi but Microsoft plans to make it available in nine more Indian languages as well eventually.
The company announced the launch of three RTC products for India. The Office Live Meeting 2005, a web conferencing service, Office Live Communicating Server 2005, the company's enterprise instant messaging server and Office Communicator, an integrated real time communications front end to complement the other two offerings.
"The global web conferencing market is around $6.9 billion. The APAC market alone is expected to touch $700 million in the next two years. Today, around 20 per cent of enterprises use instant messaging. It is believed that soon around 80 per cent of enterprises will be using the same. Our products are meant to tap into these growing markets," said Ben Graetz, regional director, Real Time Collaboration, Microsoft.
The company said that they will target the FMCG and distribution sectors along with the IT and BPO sectors with these products.
