MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Low-cost Windows reaches Brazil

Microsoft Corp. launched a scaled-back version of its Windows operating system in Brazil yesterday, hoping to get more people using computers in Latin America's largest country while cutting down on rampant software piracy.

Brazil becomes the first country in the western hemisphere to get the low-cost XP Starter Edition, which lets users run just three programs concurrently and has lower-resolution graphics.

The announcement came only weeks before Brazil's government is expected to decide whether the version will be included in a programme aimed at helping millions of poor Brazilians buy their first computers.

Designed for first-time users, the stripped-down Portuguese operating system also lacks capabilities for home networking and multiple user accounts.

The stripped-down Windows is already being sold or will be soon in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia and India. At a press conference in Sao Paulo to launch the Brazilian version, executives did not say whether Microsoft would start selling the system in other Latin American countries.

While Brazil has a population of 182 million, only about 12 percent of the country's households have computers and a mere 10 percent have Internet connections ? and many experts say the numbers must be increased for Brazil to emerge from the ranks of developing nations and vault itself into the information age.

??We're determined to decrease digital exclusion and Windows XP Starter Edition is precisely what we need to help us in this effort,'' said Emilio Umeoka, chief executive of Microsoft's Brazilian division. Umeoka said the timing of the announcement wasn't linked to the government's impending decision on whether to let Microsoft participate in the PC Conectado (??Connected PC'' in Portuguese) effort to make computers available for about 1,400 reais (US$538), payable in 24 monthly installments of about 58 reais (US$22) each.

That would make them more affordable for many working class families in a country where the monthly minimum wage is 260 reais (US$100). While Microsoft has been fighting hard to be included in the program, a big push by open-source software advocates is under way to keep the company from participating. Sergio Amadeu, who heads the agency that oversees the government's technology initiatives, has repeatedly insisted that the computers should be powered by open-source programs, whose basic code is public and freely available.

Under his guidance, the administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is encouraging all sectors of government ? Brazil's biggest computer buyer ? to move toward open-source programs in a bid to save millions of dollars in licensing fees paid to Microsoft.

The Brazilian IDG Now! Technology Web site reported yesterday that Brazil's Grupo Positivo is making computers with the stripped-down Windows that will be sold for 1,599 reais (US$615) at two large retailers, compared to the 1,299 reais ($500) price for Positivo computers outfitted with the open-source Linux operating system.

Despite relatively low computer penetration in Brazil, purchases of desktops and laptops skyrocketed to 4 million in 2004 following two years of lackluster growth. But an estimated 64 percent of the new desktops sold last year were clones assembled at clandestine factories from pirated parts and software, according to the Brazilian unit of International Data Corp. in Sao Paulo. Pirated software is readily available at street corner markets across Brazil that also sell a wide range of illegally copied DVDs and CDs.

Umeoka said Microsoft hopes to cut back on the illegal use of its technology with the launch of the XP Starter Edition. ??We'll have a much more competitive price,'' he said. ??There's a huge possibility for growth.''