Microsoft started putting out "starter packs" beginning with WinXP in order to gain revenue from markets which would normally illegally install their software, such as China, India, pretty much every 3rd world nation, and so on. In essence they're trying to create a super cheap yet hardly usable version of Windows for people who could never pay $200+ US for an operating system, but would pay ~$5US for a pirated version found in a black market shop.
Ain't gonna work. Which would you buy, a pirated version which does everything for about $5 from the guy down the street knowing your money would go to Hajib or Sun Li or someone local, or a $20 version which does less and the money will go to some multinational corporation halfway across the planet?
This is the crux of the Starter editions of Microsoft Windows, and also why they're failing miserably. The versions are used by OEMs who put it on the computers for a cheaper solution, which are then wiped after being bought and replaced with cracked versions. At least this way Microsoft gets money out of the deal somewhere, sometimes.
