Microsoft has some great plans for the PC market and the goal isn’t just to sell software to existing customers but also expand its number of customers. Microsoft has now announced that it hopes to have 1 billion PC users in 2015. To achieve this, the target has been set to the third world and the developing countries where the OLPC system has some great opportunities to improve the computer usage. The fact that you should pay for your operating system, if it’s not free, is hard to argue about as you use it every time you turn on your computer, but then again it’s no dark secret that Microsoft’s software costs a lot of money.
It costs a lot even for people in the rich part world, but selling software for hundreds in countries where the national revenue is a tiny fragment of the world economy isn’t exactly easy. Microsoft has realized this and is planning to launch a big campaign where it will sell a software package for as little as 3 USD. The package contains Windows XP Starter Edition, Microsoft Office Home, Student 2007 and other educational software.
“Bringing the benefits of technology to the next five billion people will require new products that meet the needs of underserved communities,” said Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. One of the first products, that is hoped will reach the next billion people is the Microsoft’s student Innovation Suite.
This software package will not be sold in retail channels but just like the OLPC concept it will be sold to governments if they promise to deliver free computers that can run Windows to schools and similar institutions.
