BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

04/12/2005

Competitor for Windows? - Belarus developing operating system

Minsk (dpa) - Scientists in Belarus are working on their own computer software to serve as an alternative to the market-leading Windows operating system from U.S. firm Microsoft.

The inexpensive Belarusian operating system will work with open source code like Linux, reports computer scientist Michail Machanek from the Academy of Science in Minsk. Both the European Union and NATO have expressed interest in his project, he claims.

Authoritarian President Alexander Lukaschenko has previously criticised the high price of imported software.

"Ordinary citizens cannot afford to buy an operating system for 300 U.S. dollars," Machanek claims. This is why the Microsoft programme is so often pirated in Eastern Europe. The Belarusian Windows will cost only 12 euro (14 dollars).

Source:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=65851

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