Keep away from Microsoft''s Windows XP starter, says Gartner

Chennai: Gartner, the leading research and analyst firm, is recommending potential users to steer clear of Microsoft's Windows XP Starter Edition (XPSE) until the company provides room to grow with the user.

Microsoft has announced that it would begin offering the less-expensive version of Windows XP to three countries in Asia — Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. However, Gartner warns that Windows XPSE for emerging markets, which contains new functionality targeted at first-time users, is unlikely to help in the fight against piracy and in fact may encourage potential customers to buy the full version of Windows XP Home from a software pirate.

According to Dion Wiggins, vice president and research director at Gartner, "Microsoft could have made a big difference with this product, but is more likely to be seen as pushing the upgrade path and frustrating users rather than delivering the value that this product is capable of, due to unnecessary limitations." He adds, "Fortunately XPSE is still in beta so it is not too late to make changes before the October launch."

According to Gartner, Microsoft has made the mistake of focusing on first-time users and not first-time owners.

"Many citizens who do not own a PC are already familiar with basic PC use from cyber-cafes and schools," says Martin Gilliland, principal analyst at Gartner. "XPSE is likely to frustrate these users as it is not delivering the same quality experience due to the limitations imposed and the failure to allow the operating system to grow with users as they gain experience. We believe this will result in increased piracy as Microsoft has no upgrade path unless users pay full retail price for the Windows XP Home edition."

According to Gilliland, Microsoft has put significant effort into its XPSE having studied 1,000 first-time users in Thailand for almost a year following the launch of the Thai ICT PC programme last year.

As a result, a number of new features that help first-time users have been added including a new support centre, tutorials on how to use the mouse and beginners' guides to using Windows and common applications. A number of features that are of little relevance to a first-time user - such as those that simplify overall use such as file and print sharing and local area network support, have also been removed from the operating system.

"While Microsoft should be commended for these efforts, they fall far short in other areas," said Wiggins.

"The most significant is the deliberate crippling of the operating system to allow just three applications to run at any one time. Microsoft claims this provides a simpler end-user experience. But if a user were to run Yahoo! Instant Messenger, Microsoft Instant Messenger and an Email client they could not open a web browser or anything else for that matter."

The cut-down version of the XP operating system also restricts the hardware the end-users can run. XPSE will not recognise more than 128MB or RAM or 40GB of HDD. On top of this the maximum video resolution is set at 800 x 600.

Wiggins added that although XPSE ships with XP SP2 installed, Microsoft has also failed to address security issues such as ongoing patch distribution on slow and expensive connections and anti-virus. He said the company had also failed to provide the user with any education in these areas.

"While Microsoft has made great improvements for the first-time user experience, it still fails to meet the most basic needs," said Gilliland.