WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.600 Windows licenses have always been notoriously expensive, 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:08.360 but did you know there used to be a few editions of Windows specifically made for regions 00:00:08.360 --> 00:00:13.360 where users typically have less cash to spend or less high-end hardware available to them? 00:00:13.360 --> 00:00:16.800 Collectively, they were called Windows Starter Editions 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:19.840 and spanned three generations of the operating system, 00:00:19.840 --> 00:00:25.520 XP, Vista, and Seven. Windows XP Starter was released in 2004, 00:00:25.520 --> 00:00:29.160 around three years after the regular editions of XP came out 00:00:29.200 --> 00:00:32.200 and was targeted at certain countries in South America, 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:36.080 South and Southeast Asia, along with Russia and Turkey. 00:00:36.080 --> 00:00:39.880 There was great demand for lower-cost PCs in these regions, 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:45.040 meaning that Microsoft saw an opportunity to provide an operating system for those PCs 00:00:45.040 --> 00:00:48.600 and get lots of new users on the Microsoft platform. 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:52.840 Microsoft was also concerned that Linux, which was freely available, 00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:55.840 would end up becoming the dominant OS in those parts of the world 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:59.800 if they didn't step in with their own solution. Not to mention that they were worried 00:00:59.800 --> 00:01:04.920 that people would just use pirated operating systems if they didn't make Windows cheap enough. 00:01:04.920 --> 00:01:09.240 Of course, this stripped-down version of XP had serious limitations. 00:01:09.240 --> 00:01:16.480 It could only run three programs at once, maxed out at a screen resolution of 1024 by 768, 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:19.520 and was only licensed for the lowest-end hardware. 00:01:19.520 --> 00:01:25.840 Think processors like the Duron and Celeron, and systems with only 512 megabytes of memory or less. 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:29.120 But despite these limitations, or maybe because of them, 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:34.560 Windows XP Starter was a hit. Microsoft sold over a million copies of XP Starter 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:38.200 and followed up the success with Windows Vista Starter in 2007. 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:42.240 But this is where things started to get a little hairy for the software giant. 00:01:42.240 --> 00:01:47.000 At first, it might seem like Vista Starter would be an easy upgrade from XP Starter. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:51.280 It had similar restrictions, designed to allow it to work well on lower-end hardware, 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:55.680 but with the new Vista features and a more generous one-Gigabyte RAM limit. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:00.520 However, Microsoft seemed to have underestimated how graphically demanding Vista's new 00:02:00.520 --> 00:02:03.800 aesthetically pleasing Aero interface would be. 00:02:03.800 --> 00:02:09.960 Aero was one of the causes of Vista running poorly on even higher-end PCs outside of emerging markets. 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:13.400 So Microsoft's decision to keep it in Vista Starter 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:18.080 was a real headscratcher. Microsoft eventually decided to replace Vista Starter 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:22.280 with Vista Home Basic, which contrasted with the more mainstream 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:25.800 Home Premium edition. Home Basic had Aero disabled 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:30.960 to lighten the processing load on lower-end PCs and ended up on computers for sale 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:35.000 outside of the emerging markets we previously mentioned, including in the US. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:39.400 Part of the reason for the Home Basic release was that Vista had already developed a reputation 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:43.640 as a frustrating OS to run due to the onerous hardware requirements. 00:02:43.640 --> 00:02:48.240 And Home Basic became a way for Microsoft to try and change this perception, 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:52.680 as well as to sell old stock of underpowered computers originally designed for Windows XP. 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:57.520 In fact, it wasn't uncommon to peel off those Windows Vista basic case badges 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:00.880 to find a made-for-Windows XP sticker underneath. 00:03:00.880 --> 00:03:05.600 Yeah, basic. But as funny as this was, it did make a bit more sense for Microsoft 00:03:05.600 --> 00:03:09.400 to have just one lower-end version for underpowered hardware, 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:14.280 regardless of the geographical location. Despite the fact Vista Starter didn't do so well, 00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:20.640 Microsoft pressed on with the Starter lineup, releasing Windows 7 Starter in 2009. 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:24.200 Confusingly though, Starter was now the addition designed 00:03:24.200 --> 00:03:29.360 for the then-popular Netbooks, small, low-power laptops that attracted users 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:32.800 that mostly needed a PC for simple internet-based tasks. 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:37.000 Like the other Starter editions, it had a memory limitation, two gigabytes in this case, 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.720 but unlike those other ones, Windows 7 Starter had a foothold in more developed nations 00:03:41.720 --> 00:03:45.760 due to being designed for Netbooks. Instead of getting the new Starter, 00:03:45.760 --> 00:03:49.080 the emerging markets got Windows 7 Home Basic, 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:52.360 which now had a larger eight-Gigabyte memory limit. 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:57.120 But this would be the last time that Microsoft produced a stripped-down Windows version 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:01.720 for certain parts of the world. As even lower-end hardware became more powerful, 00:04:01.720 --> 00:04:05.840 running Windows became easier, especially as Microsoft kept the system requirements 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:09.360 of Windows 7, 8, and even 10 fairly similar. 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:13.200 How nice of them. But the lack of Starter editions following Windows 7 00:04:13.200 --> 00:04:16.320 actually contributed to the death of the Netbook, 00:04:16.320 --> 00:04:20.000 which is a super-interesting topic in its own right. So if you'd like to know more 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:25.640 about how the Netbook disappeared after having 15 minutes of immense fame in the late 2000s, 00:04:25.640 --> 00:04:27.120 go watch this video next.