Microsoft Venus
Microsoft Venus was an aborted
History
Relatively little is known about Microsoft Venus, since the project never made it beyond the prototype stage, and was designed to be exclusive to the People's Republic of China. What is known of the project appears to show that Microsoft designed Venus in response to a largely untapped Chinese computing market;[2] with their low-end set-top box, designed to be a combination of Internet accessibility and the basic features of a personal computer (such as a rudimentary word processor),[2] they hoped to tap into this market, gaining market share and profit in the world's fastest-growing economy in the process.[3]
Despite initial support from the
As 1999 progressed and 2000 began, the Chinese government's relations with Microsoft continued to sour over production costs of the Venus. This tension reached a fever pitch in January 2000, when the Chinese government ordered Windows 2000 uninstalled from all ministerial computers, opting to use the locally produced Red Flag Linux instead.[4]
January 2000 passed without a Venus release, and the product remained "vaporware". After Microsoft's aforementioned brief showdown with the Chinese government that same month, all talk of Venus appears to have ceased in the news media. Venus was never released, and with it went Microsoft's attempt at selling low-cost computing to the Chinese masses.
Aftermath
While Microsoft's first attempt at bringing computing to the Chinese masses was a failure, later events have proved more favorable to the company. Lenovo's purchase of IBM's Windows-based computing division in 2005 gave the consumer electronics corporation, which is partially owned by the Chinese government, a strong presence in the Windows computing market both at home in China and abroad that has persisted since the initial acquisition. However, Lenovo's computers are full-fledged PCs, and do not bear a strong resemblance to the all-in-one television component that Microsoft envisioned becoming a large success in China.
Specifications
According to Reuters' account of the initial unveiling of the Venus prototype,
Microsoft reportedly intended for the Venus boxes to run on a special version of
Exact processor speeds were never released by Microsoft, but were believed to be comparable to that of low-end Windows computers at that time.[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Wolf, David (July 3, 2006). "Microsoft Venus: A (Forgotten?) Failure in China". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Microsoft: Cheap Net for China". Wired. March 10, 1999. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
{{cite magazine}}
: Unknown parameter|agency=
ignored (help) - ^ a b Computergram International (October 11, 1999). "China Gives Boost to Microsoft's Venus Project". Computergram International. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ IDG (February 23, 2000). "Microsoft in China: Clash of titans". CNN. Archived from the original on October 22, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- CNET Networks. Retrieved May 5, 2009.