Thailand's program that brings low-cost computers to the poor could have the unintended side effect of ending Microsoft's one-price policy, according to market researcher Gartner.
Today, a copy of the Microsoft Windows operating system or Office productivity suite costs roughly the same in every country. Windows XP Home costs $199, for example, and Office XP is priced at $399.
But that changed in Thailand this summer when Microsoft decided to offer Thai language versions of Windows XP Home and Office Standard Edition for a mere $40. The special deal is part of a low-cost PC program run by Thailand's Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) ministry. When the program began earlier this year, the Thai government was only offering the computers with the open-source Linux operating system
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