Windows XP Reduced Media Edition
Forced to do so by an European Commission ruling, Microsoft released a flavor of Windows sans Media Player.
In true Microsoft fashion:
"This is the first time we are being required to offer to consumers a version of Windows that provides them with less value rather than more," Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said in an interview Wednesday.Customers who opt for the media-player-free version won't be getting a bargain. The EU ordered that Microsoft couldn't charge more for the version sans player, but it didn't say that Microsoft had to charge less.
"I am anticipating that it will be offered on exactly the terms that the court's--I should say that the commission's--decision permits it to be offered, which is the same price as the version of Windows that we offer today," Smith said during a conference call with reporters.
Microsoft said that all of the things that are supposed to work do work, though it still expects support calls from customers expecting features that aren't there.
Syndication