Could Microsoft kill open source with its almost free Windows offering?

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has announced that Microsoft will offer a “Student Innovation Suite” software package for just US$3 to government-funded computer education programs around the world, particularly in developing nations.

The Student Innovation Suite includes Windows XP Starter Edition, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Microsoft Math 3.0 (collection of math tools, tutorials, and instructions), Learning Essentials 2.0 for Microsoft Office, and Windows Live Mail desktop.

Microsoft’s says its goal is to help bring social and economic opportunity through new products and programs to people who do not yet use Microsoft products. The company aims to double the number of PC users worldwide to 2 billion by 2015.

While Microsoft’s program may seem to be well meaning, a number of commentators believe that the move is anything but altruistic.

Microsoft’s $3 Windows offer is an attempt to “kill open source off at its roots,” according to columnist Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols in a blog post at Linux-Watch.com. Microsoft “wants to make sure that young people in developing countries get brainwashed into the Microsoft way of computing,” he writes.

“Unlike North America and, to some extent, Western Europe, the rest of the world isn’t addicted to Microsoft’s offerings,” he adds. “They can see with far clearer eyes than most Americans that Windows is not the be-all and end-all of operating systems.”

The potential untapped market is bigger than the entire present computing user base. And Microsoft can’t afford to have open source software dominate emerging markets – or its growth is toast.

For a software suite to stand any chance of winning, it would have to be head and shoulders above a much cheaper competitor. Offering $3 software suite to governments to give away takes away many of the benefits of open source software.

As one can see, there is a great opportunity for Linux and OpenOffice.org to compete in emerging markets where people little attachment to the Windows platform, and where the open source solution is 100% free.

I doubt this initiative will kill off open source. First, $3 does not mean 100% free. Second, Microsoft software distribution for this project relies on government channels alone. Lastly, the software being offered is not exactly the latest and greatest.

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