Microsoft to sell software for $3 in developing world

There's been a lot of griping about the pricing structure for Vista lately, so this may come as a surprise: Microsoft plans to sell bundles of Windows and Office software for the low price of $3. The catch? The bundles will be sold to governments in developing nations for use on PCs for students. The software bundles, which will contain Windows XP Starter Edition, Office Home and Student 2007, Windows Live Mail Desktop and a number of educational products, will begin shipping during the second half of this year and will require the government in question to pay for at least half of the PC that the software will be installed on. We've seen the open-source OLPC project making great strides this year, so it's no surprise that Microsoft is feeling the heat a bit. If the developing world goes Linux, Microsoft will likely miss out on what will one day become thriving tech markets. While Intel's Classmate PC attempts to use a model similar to the OLPC to deliver Windows into classrooms, it remains unclear whether that project will ultimately succeed.

For more on Microsoft's strategy:
- see this ZDnet blog post