Gates pushes cheap Windows in Asia

Bill Gates has been touting stripped-down, cheap versions of Windows to Asian governments during his quick blast along the Pacific Rim which began this week.

According to various reports from South-East Asian papers, Gates has been talking about extending the programmes run earlier in Malaysia and Thailand aimed at making PCs affordable in those countries.

An upgrade to the pitch is, apparently, the hope that the programmes will help to curb the rampant piracy of Microsoft software in the area. There is also the firm Microsoft desire to head off Linux.

Gates has expressed his desire to bring other countries into the schemes but the only concrete result, so far, has been the signing of a deal with Malaysia which will see Microsoft investing $2.6m to train teachers and improve information technology in 10,000 Malaysian schools over the next five years.

Gates is known as a man who does not give up, or doesn't give up easily, but the programmes in Malaysia and Thailand have not been unqualified successes.

In Thailand, the programme did manage to get 150,000 low-cost computers with very basic versions of XP and Office into Thai hands. However, according to a senior Microsoft executive, the machines went to people who were considering buying one anyway and, due to faults in the programme, there was a high level of user dissatisfaction.

A similar programme in Malaysia, which started about two months ago, has had a very low take-up. Gates sits on a panel which advises the Malaysian government on technology policies.

It all adds up to frustration for Microsoft. PC penetration in much of Asia is low and the company hopes to make a bomb out of this untapped market as it takes off - it hasn't quite figured out how to do so, though.

Last February, Martin Taylor, Microsoft general manager of platform strategy, suggested that the company might have to take a leaf from MacDonald's. "How much does a Big Mac cost in India versus in New York versus in Taipei?" he is quoted as saying.

Microsoft's enthusiasm for getting its software translated into local languages - the heavily pushed Local Language Program - is part of its efforts to move towards a variable pricing structure.

But, so far, Microsoft hasn't settled on, or can't find, a coherent strategy. Some Asian governments have already made noises about moving to Linux, while local observers point out that pirated Microsoft software is readily available at a price that undercuts the stripped-down version.

Gates began his tour in Australia, where he did not mention stripped-down versions of the company's software.