Since it is really no secret that Windows is hurting pretty bad in the Asian marketplace, their is still one really important battleground just around that corner - Brazil!

Can a cheap, stripped-down version of Windows derail the momentum of open source software? Microsoft is hoping it can.

Microsoft is poised to introduce its entry-level Windows XP Starter Edition product in Brazil, according to published reports coming out of that country this week.

The Brazilian government has been a vocal advocate of open source software. Many government agencies there have been migrating to Linux, citing cost savings as the impetus.

Microsoft officials demonstrated this week in Brazil a Portugese-language-optimized version of Windows XP that was stripped down to run on less-powerful processors, according to Marcelo Nóbrega, technology editor with the fourth largest Brazilian newspaper, Jornal do Brasil. Microsoft officials said they are bringing the Starter Edition product to Brazil, Nobrega said, but did not specify the exact timing. [Read the rest]