The first computers from this family based on VIA C3 600MHz CPUs will come out in the end of this month already, as to The Inquirer. Of course, they will work in Windows XP OS.

This way Microsoft is most likely to be trying to get another opportunity to promote its software. That is why the company makes its Dream PC as cheap as possible, though not detrimental, as it happened to X-Box console some time ago, when the guys simply overestimated their powers.

We believe that many users who do not need 2GHz monsters will pay attention to Dream PCs as to low-cost fully-fledged solutions with licensed software. This is especially true for the citizens of developing countries such as China, former Soviet Union countries, Eastern Europe and Latin America, where the per capita income is not that high, although the market develops highly dynamically. It is no secret to you that these are the countries where the unlicensed software is blossoming, so we also suppose Microsoft might be aiming at combating this issue, because the spreading of Dream PCs will definitely reduce the demand for "pirated" Microsoft software. Moreover, taking into account that the alternative Linux operation system is gaining more and more recognition in some regions, we can also assume that this is another way of winning the competition by the Redmond Company.

Anyway, the low-cost PC concept is not new in the market. Many Taiwanese companies, and not only them, have already undertaken multiple attempts to conquer this market, although we do not yet witness "mass invasion of sub-$500 PCs". We should also keep in mind that once Microsoft decides to start selling Dream PCs under their brand name, they will have to establish worldwide partnerships with hardware resellers. In fact, this is not a very simple task to fulfill, as it requires financial investments and quite a bunch of time. The major difficulties may crop up in the countries and regions with no presence of any international trading networks. Moreover, Microsoft will also have to care about assembly, delivery, warranty and technical support for their customers.

We would also like to touch upon the technical side to the picture, especially remembering that VIA C3 working at such a low frequency is no performance wonder. If Dream PC is positioned as a home solution and entertainment center, the selected CPU might turn out unable to cope with the task, because some entertainment tasks are pretty CPU resources hungry. It may even appear the system will be unable to play a movie. Although, no one can prevent the company from installing faster processor into their systems once they discover any problems.

Bearing in mind everything mentioned above, we will have either to agree that we simply do not have enough details on Microsoft’s plans, or to suppose that the company again overestimated its powers in terms of hardware promotion, which sounds quite logical to us especially keeping in mind the actual failure of the X-Box gaming console.