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Our Bureau

Mr Ranjivjit Singh, Director, Microsoft India

New Delhi , June 2

IN a move to target the first time users and make PCs more affordable, Microsoft today announced the launch of its personal computer with Windows XP Starter Edition in Hindi, priced at Rs 18,900, in India.

It has tied-up with the State Bank of India, United Bank of India and Bank of India for easy financing schemes that include a down payment of Rs 3,780 and equal monthly instalment of Rs 399 over 48 months.

The starter edition offers Wordpad, Internet Explorer, Outlook and Media Player with a Hindi user interface. However, it does not contain MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other MS Office packages. In order to use these software, users need to buy MS Office package. While the Hindi MS Office Student and Teachers Edition costs about Rs 7,200, the English Student and Teachers Edition (a basic edition) costs around Rs 6,500, company representatives said.

The company has partnered with Intel Corp. and HCL Infosystems to develop PCs with Windows XP Starter Edition, which happens to be the lowest cost version of Windows XP operating system. The PC has a Celeron 2.4 GHZ processor, 40 GB of disk space, CD-Rom and DVD drive. It has local language interface, step-by-step guidance, pre-configured settings for ease of use. The Windows XP home edition PC, with Pentium IV 2.26 GHZ and Windows XP Home Edition is available for Rs 24,990.

Microsoft has launched similar initiatives in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia and Brazil. The company has introduced these EMI schemes for Uttaranchal Government employees to begin with, the Microsoft India Director (Business and Marketing Operations), Mr Ranjivjit Singh, told newspersons. Non-Government officials in the State can use the low-EMI scheme provided the banks offer them those low interest rates.

Uttaranchal is the first State where these PCs would be available under the State Government's `People's PC Programme'. The new software would not be available off the shelf, Mr Singh said.

He also did not hazard a guess on the sales target for this new offering but said the two lakh Government employees in Uttaranchal would be their target audience as of now. Microsoft is also in talks with other State Governments to introduce the product in more Hindi-speaking States, he added.

The company is working with HCL and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd to introduce a joint offering for broadband users, Mr Singh said. "This offering would be targeted at relatively mature users and might require a different version of Windows."

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