In mid-2004, reports surfaced that Microsoft would soon ship an entry-level version of Windows XP, dubbed Windows XP Starter Edition, to customers in emerging markets such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia and India. Those markets, Microsoft said, needed locale-specific PCs that were easy to use, support, and sell.

The response from tech press and analysts was immediate and damning. Reports referred to XP Starter Edition as "cut-rate," "cheap," "crippled," and even "futile." All of those reports, however, are completely wrong. And it's a sad statement on the state of modern tech reporting and analysis that so many people could be so cynical about a product they have never seen and don't know a thing about.