[MacosNerd]

Looks like Microsoft is jumping onto the hardware bandwagon.
MS seling pcs

I'm sure this will piss off Dell, HP and others as the market is pretty saturated as it is.

[turtle777]

Wow, I'm sure that bundle of crappiness will be unmatched

-t

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by MacosNerd 

Looks like Microsoft is jumping onto the hardware bandwagon.
MS seling pcs

I'm sure this will piss off Dell, HP and others as the market is pretty saturated as it is.

They are only going to be distributed in India. With a population of over 1 billion and PCs in 1.4%* of households, I wouldn't call the market saturated.

*According to the data from 2005.

[Kevin]

Well they said the first place they were going to be sold was there.

[MacosNerd]

I think its smart to try India as a trial run and then expand, but I do believe they will have trouble breaking into the US market provided they can make it profitable in India. At least the folks in india won't complain about not understanding the people on the help desk when they call support

[Dakarʒ]

What's next a phone?

[♥]

And yet another MS failure will become evident shortly enough.

Just like their search engine that no one wants, their Zune that no one wants, etc.

Anyone care to add to the list?

[olePigeon]

The computers will be sold with Windows XP Starter Edition. That means only 3 programs can be run simultaneously and the computer is limited to 800x600 resolution.

[Brass]

Actually, it's hard to see how MS can go wrong here. PCs are all fairly standard hardware, and who wouldn't want a computer where the hardware and OS are made by the same company, and built to work with each other from the ground up?

This is why I like Macs on the desktop, and why I like Suns for servers. It makes a lot of difference. You know that the hardware and software are going to play nicely together.

[MacosNerd]

Originally Posted by Brass 

Actually, it's hard to see how MS can go wrong here. PCs are all fairly standard hardware, and who wouldn't want a computer where the hardware and OS are made by the same company, and built to work with each other from the ground up?

I think there's a huge difference. Apple started as a hardware company that produced software. Microsoft was never a hardware company and has a long history of failed hardware endeavors. I think their mouse is probably the only real successful computer hardware and xbox is their overall most successful hardware product.

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by MacosNerd 

I think there's a huge difference. Apple started as a hardware company that produced software. Microsoft was never a hardware company and has a long history of failed hardware endeavors. I think their mouse is probably the only real successful computer hardware and xbox is their overall most successful hardware product.

There's really not that big of a difference. Apple doesn't actually manufacture computer hardware. They take components from a bunch of different vendors, source a manufacturer for motherboards, and put it all together. Video is by nVidia or ATI. NICs are usually Broadcom, as are the Airport and Airport Extreme cards. Processors are (obviously) made by Intel. The keyboard in my clamshell iBook has a big Acer logo stamped on the cable. The only hardware that Apple actually develops in-house is the computer casings, the mice and keyboards, the iSight, the iPods, etc. But the actual computer? The closest Apple gets to producing hardware these days is if Stevie visits a facility where a computer component is made.

Microsoft does have a history of failed hardware endeavors. But creating a Microsoft-branded computer is not really a hardware endeavor. It's just putting together a computer made of components that will definitely work with the OS loaded on the computer - which is exactly what Apple does.

We'll see what happens with this Microsoft project. I do agree with the other poster that mentioned this is a project aimed at a semi-developing country. Dell and HP have nothing to worry about in that regard - not to mention that Dell and HP don't get their biggest profits from home computer purchases. The multimillion-dollar corporate contracts are where the money comes from. Plus, if you look at comments from people who live in India on the original ArsTechnica thread about this article, people can't just go out and buy a $500 computer with a legit copy of Windows installed.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

There's really not that big of a difference. Apple doesn't actually manufacture computer hardware.

That's like saying there's no difference between Nintendo and Coca-Cola because neither of them actually manufactures the parts to video game systems. Nonetheless, one of them actually is a video game company and the other is not.

[Sherman Homan]

Originally Posted by Dakarʒ 

What's next a phone?

Whadda redickulus idear.

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

That's like saying there's no difference between Nintendo and Coca-Cola because neither of them actually manufactures the parts to video game systems. Nonetheless, one of them actually is a video game company and the other is not.

Then you ignored the rest of what I wrote. Apple and Microsoft are both software companies. Neither are computer manufacturers. Apple chooses components for their computers that they will ensure work with OS X. Microsoft is now going to do the same thing, albeit for a much smaller target market.

What I was trying to point out was that this latest project from Microsoft isn't really much different from what Apple already does. You're comparing apples to oranges with Ninendo and Coke. I'm comparing apples to apples with two software companies that both are now in the hardware branding business.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Then you ignored the rest of what I wrote. Apple and Microsoft are both software companies. Neither are computer manufacturers.

Right, Apple just designs computers and owns factories to make them. Totally not a computer company. Neither are Dell, HP or any of the other major computer companies. In fact, it seems there are no computer companies on earth.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Right, Apple just designs computers and owns factories to make them.

Apple doesn't own the factories. Quanta, Compal, Asustek, and friends do.

I doubt MS designed these PCs... they probably just took a stock design from one of the ODMs.

[Salty]

If I remember correctly Apple does have a few of their own factories, one in Ireland was it?

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Right, Apple just designs computers and owns factories to make them. Totally not a computer company. Neither are Dell, HP or any of the other major computer companies. In fact, it seems there are no computer companies on earth.

You do realize that if Dell came out with Dell OS and started selling computers with it installed, they'd be doing what Apple does?

No matter how you spin it, Apple doesn't manufacture computer components. They design the cases that the components are put into, and those cases look pretty. But the actual computer? Hell no. Apple may have factories that manufacture the casings, but I can guarantee you that they aren't manufacturing the graphics cards and processors and LCDs and hard drives and wireless cards in-house. How do you think Apple implemented Airport Extreme when they decided to start using 802.11g? They contracted Broadcom to make the mini-PCI cards, and they wrote the drivers necessary to use Broadcom's cards and included those drivers with the retail-packaged cards and with the next release of OS X. Broadcom manufactured the cards and just slapped a metal plate over the top that's got Apple branding and Apple copyright engraved on it.

The difference between what Apple is doing and what Microsoft is doing is that Microsoft is just getting into the game. The hardware is already there and has been there for more than a decade, and computers can already be purchased that are compatible with Windows XP. All Microsoft is going to do is guarantee that the hardware that is in these machines they're going to sell in India will work with Windows XP.

It is likely that Microsoft is going to rebrand whitebox computers, rather than investing millions in R&D to make pretty cases and pretty peripherals, which is the route that Apple took. But at the end of the day, the fundamentals of what they're doing is just about identical.