Microsoft and the emerging countries

Microsoft make agreements with the government of Indonesia (remember that Indonesia has a population of 238 million inhabitants) to provide software at low cost.
This initiative is part of a more comprehensive Microsoft and which should involve all emerging countries, helping them to reduce the digital divide.
The provision will cover several software at no cost, while others will be discounted.

This operation, that isn't philanthropic, hide a smart commercial strategy to combat the illegal distribution of copies branded Microsoft and spread applications of Redmond between countries and between the new generations.

Since the end of June Microsoft will launch other trade initiatives for businesses, regardless of country of origin, to attack the low end of the market, namely in growth of PC at low cost. Already in recent days Negroponte has indicated its intention to install a light version of Windows on XO (on this I'm very in doubt because this is a PC for the developing countries and must necessarily include the cost of production).
One constraint placed by Microsoft to companies that wish to join the initiative in June, is the installation on PC hardware low end (Uni, max 80 Gb HDD, max 1 Mb RAM, etc.).

Personally, I'm curious to see how Microsoft will ensure that the hardware requirements are met, considered that already in Southeast Asia, 90% of installations is pirated.
The percentage of spreading pirated copies of Microsoft software targeted, especially in emerging countries and South-East Asia, is important and these initiatives fall clearly in the strategy of marketing at source (governments and local institutions) not to be pirated in a second time.
The discounted prices serve to encourage local institutions to join.

If Microsoft sells directly SO, the Office suite and all its software, piracy downstream suffers a severe blow, because now its turnover Microsoft has already done so.

At the time of Windows 3.11, where the protections copies were zero, Windows has been able to establish itself as standard, although not the best operating system in circulation.
Since Win95, MS adopted a policy and a more careful control over certificates and updates.
This however was not enough to defeat piracy: we know very well that copies of pirated software are also found in chips.
Here's that comes this Microsoft action.

link: Punto Informatico