Aimed at making cheaper PCs, Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled low-cost Windows XP Starter Edition operating systems in India in Hindi targetting the first-time home users.

"The Windows XP Starter Edition is a low-cost introduction to Windows XP operating system and is designed for first-time home PC users in developing markets," Ravi Venkatesh, chairman, Microsoft India, said in New Delhi.

The low-cost desktop PCs based on the Starter Edition operating system from HCL, HP, Acer, Wipro will be available early next year.

Notwithstanding an expected price reduction as the Starter Edition is a customised and localised version of Windows XP and will limit itself to running three programmes at a time, Microsoft did not disclose the price of this operating system, saying it would announced closer to the date of launch early next year.

Venkatesh said the price reduction in the Starter Edition would be 'significant.' A Window XP operating systems currently cost about Rs 4,500 and an operating system constitutes about 18-20 per cent of the cost of a PC.

Earlier Union IT and Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran suggested a 20 per cent reduction in prices of Starter Edition-based PCs saying consumers should be passed on the benefits of any price reduction.