“Microsoft Corp chairman Bill Gates unveiled on Wednesday a new
operating system designed to bring Internet access to Chinese homes
at less than one-fifth the price of a personal computer.
Microsoft’s Venus operating system would allow Chinese
electronics firms to combine a web browser, low-end personal
computer (PC) and video compact disc (VCD) player in a single box
attached to a television for people who cannot afford a PC, Gates
said.
‘Our goal is a very aggressive goal, and that is to introduce
millions and millions of people to computers and to the Internet,’
he told a news conference in China’s southern city of Shenzhen.
The U.S. software maker looked at China’s mature consumer
appliance market, the incredible popularity of VCDs, the low market
penetration of PCs, and the willingness of Chinese parents to
invest in their children’s education, and found a niche for the
Venus system, he said.”