GMA makes surprise pitch for Microsoft’s ‘Bintana’

[mazdamazda]

GMA makes surprise pitch for Microsoft’s ‘Bintana’

By melvin G. calimag

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo caught everyone by surprise during the tenth anniversary bash of Microsoft Philippines last August 25 when she thanked in her speech the software company for a lowcost and localized version of Microsoft Windows called "Bintana" that it will roll out soon.

The high-powered crowd composed of the country’s top IT executives who gathered for the celebration, held at the NBC Tent in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, thought the Chief Executive committed an inadvertent blunder when she announced the software product.

"I thank Microsoft Philippines for taking the initiative to lower down the cost of their products, particularly with "Bintana," the Philippine version of the widely popular Microsoft Windows (operating system)," she said.

Majority of the audience, including Microsoft Philippines officials, wondered if the speechwriter of the president made the mistake of inserting unverified information lifted from the Internet. It can be recalled that an email circulated in cyberspace years back poking fun at the Tagalog translations of Microsoft products.

Mark Yambot, corporate affairs director of Microsoft Philippines, admitted he and fellow employees were surprised when Arroyo uttered "Bintana" at the podium. "We all looked at each other and expressed amazement. I know we have a program called Pinoy PC. And if we do have a project of that kind, it will not be called Bintana."

It turned out, however, that Arroyo was accurate all along as it was Microsoft Philippines managing director Antonio "TJ" Javier who personally briefed the president about the "unheard of" product.

Javier sat beside Arroyo in the presidential table together with Commission on Information Communications Technology chair Virgilio Peña, Trade Secretary Peter Favila, and other top Microsoft officials.

Sought for confirmation, Javier admitted "Bintana" is indeed a real project that will be launched "within the year." "It’s just awaiting approval from the company headquarters in Redmond, Washington," the official said.

The true purpose of "Bintana," Javier said, is to fight off piracy and to bring down the cost of the operating system to an affordable level. He explained the main reason why the Windows OS has remained costly is due to the uniform pricing the company follows around the globe.

"We can’t lower down our price here of Windows because, if that were the case, other countries would just buy the product here. That’s the reason why we have a standard price for Windows all over the world," he said.

Windows XP, the company’s flagship product, is currently being sold for $90 per license.

"But a Tagalog version of Windows cannot be used by other countries since it’s only us who understands the language. It’s only in that instance that we can lower the price."

Put bluntly, Javier said the "Bintana" OS was just a way for the local Microsoft office to go around the prohibition of having a standard price for Windows.

Javier is hoping that even for this reason alone, the Redmond headquarters will give the green light for the project.

"Anyway, computers users don’t really care much about the OS, it’s the applications, particularly MS Office, that they are really concerned with," he said. He did not elaborate how programming commands, written in Tagalog, would be recognized by the computers.

Javier said the company hired the services of National Artist Virgilio Almario, a renowned Filipino linguist, who provided the Tagalog translations of various computer terminologies that were used in "Bintana."

But the Microsoft executive clarified that "Bintana" is a full and complete variant of Microsoft Windows unlike the Starter Edition that the giant software maker has introduced as an entry-level version in developing economies such as Indonesia, Thailand, and India.

He said "Bintana" has all the networking features of Windows lacking in the stripped-down Starter Edition. It is also compatible with all Microsoft applications, including English version of MS Office.

Javier refused to say the retail value of the localized OS, which will be targeted primarily for consumers. "But it will be much lower than the current price," he said.

source: http://www.mb.com.ph/INFO2005082842941.html

[nicolodeon]

Hmm...interesting. I'm curious how Microsucks, er, Microsoft would translate words/terms/phrases such as Control Panel, Disk Defragmenter, System Restore, Registry Editor, Windows Explorer, Task Manager, and a gazillion other terms. Having seen other 'localized' MS Windows in some countries, the mich lower price is not really that low but comparing those with the English (international) verison of Windows, the 'localized' verison is arguably a good deal.

[nicolodeon]

It would also be interesting how the computer would interpret Tagalog commands that are directed to the hardware itself.

Anyways, good luck to them. They'll need it.

[Mguy]

Hopefully, the can trim down Windows to a minimum so that you can run Explorer, Word, Excel and Powerpoint only. That should be good enough for "Bintana"

[mantoy]

OK. 'Pindutin' ang 'Umpisa' na buton at piliin ang 'Pananaw' at i-klik ang daga.

[roninblade]

OK. 'Pindutin' ang 'Umpisa' na buton at piliin ang 'Pananaw' at i-klik ang daga.

wahahahahaha. ayos. paano kaya ang gaming dito since puro gaming lang naman ginagawa ko sa windows eh. but if i can afford the bintana release, out of curiousity, i think i'll give it a try.

[niky]

Hmmm... could only help... if they're serious about stopping piracy, they ought to price this at NO MORE THAN 2000 pesos. Won't stop pirates, but it would make it less difficult for decent people to cough up the price.

[carlocaraddict]

OK. 'Pindutin' ang 'Umpisa' na buton at piliin ang 'Pananaw' at i-klik ang daga.

literal ha:lol:

[empy]

what's next?

microsoft opisina (office) at salita (word)?
microsoft pintura (paint)?
adobe tindahan ng litrato (photo shop), sirkosero (acrobat) at taga-basa (reader)?
microsoft tingin sa labas (outlook)?
taga-hain ng SQL (SQL server)?

:bwahaha:

[pixelparadigm]

microsoft = maliitmalambot

[alwayz_yummy]

pnu ung search-->hanap
e ung "run"--> takbo
my documents-->aking dokumento
shared documents-->hiraming dokumento

[mantoy]

parang ganito ba yan?

[ess]

BSOD -> Bughaw ng SCREEN ng kamatayan

Virus -> Mikrobyo
Worm -> Bulate

Log-in -> troso sa loob
Log-out -> troso sa labas [heheheeh]

Firewall -> Apoy na Pader
"Windows has detected that your firewall is not enabled. Please enable your firewall." --> Napansin ng bintana na hindi pinapayagang umandar ang apoy na pader ng sistemang ito. Please lang, paki payagan naman paandarin ang apoy na pader."

[chieffy]

ayos pano na kaming mga bumili ng lisensyado at orig na Bintana!!!
di bale na nga basta walang anomalya okay na rin...para naman sa Pinoy iyan...

ganito na rin ang lalabas na warning sa illegal operation:
Itong Pamahalaang ito ay gumawa ng illegal na operasyon
at kailangang "patayin" ang namumuno este ang operasyon...

[BoEinG_747]

hehehe .. nakatanggap na ako ng e-mail nito dati


2001 nga yata

[nicolodeon]

O sige nga, i-translate nyo nga yung Windows commands sa gay-speak?

[mazdamazda]

baka taglish siguro ang gagawin...

[niky]

LOL... "Wala Ka Bang Alam?"... try ko nga i-re-skin ang OS ko....

[pissword]

i think madalas dyan magiging tagalog spelling lang ang english

[gearspeed]

Nakita ko dati sa dragracingpinoy.com yang microsoft bintana na yan..tagal na yan ah..
Natatawa ako sa mga translation niyo..