As an effort to combat software piracy and make computing more accessible to majority of Filipinos, the Philippine subsidiary of software giant Microsoft Corp. is preparing to release a low-cost and localized version of its Windows operating system.
"The project will be launched anytime within the year or just as soon as we get approval from company headquarters in Redmond, Washington," said Antonio Javier, managing director for Microsoft Philippines. He explained that one of the main reasons why Windows remains pricey for locals is because it has to conform to the product¡¦s uniformed pricing across all countries.
Even if we do want to lower the prices here in the Philippines to support more users, we can"t, otherwise people from other countries would just buy the product here. That"s the reason why we have set a standard price for Windows around the globe," Javier added.
When Microsoft comes out with a localized version of Windows, the software may be used only within the Philippines. Only then will the price of the software be lowered, said Javier.
Meanwhile, the project has gained a lot of interest, including President Gloria Arroyo who graced the 10th anniversary celebration of Microsoft Philippines recently.
"I would like to thank Microsoft Philippines for taking the initiative to lower the cost of their products, particularly the Philippine version of the widely popular Microsoft Windows operating system," Arroyo said in her speech.
Several supporters of Microsoft also believe that the company"s localized version will convince people from the low-end market segment to shift from Linux to Windows.
Earlier this year, Microsoft commissioned a third-party software developer to build a Filipino glossary of computer terms with the help of Virgilio Almario, national artist and poet and dean of the college of Arts and Letter at UP Diliman, who will translate computer terminologies into Tagalog.
Unlike the Starter Edition, which Microsoft introduced as an entry-level version of Windows for other developing countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and India, the Filipino version will be a full and complete variant of Microsoft Windows.
Javier expects the Philippine version of Windows to provide all the networking features deficient in the stripped-down Starter Edition. It is also expected to be compatible with Microsoft applications such as the English version of MS Office.
The Starter Edition provided in most countries is not sold separately but is bundled with low-cost PCs that are integrated with Intel Celeron or AMD Duron processors. It limits the users to running only three programs at a time. As of last month, Microsoft has already sold more than 100,000 Starter Edition copies.
Javier has refused to disclose the actual retail value of the localized version, but reassures everyone that it will have a retail price lower than the present cost and will be targeted primarily to consumers.