Cubans' first PCs: Windows XP, Not Mac or Vista

The first legal home PCs just went up for sale in Cuba, and it should be no surprise that they're Windows XP-based, not Macs. Macs or Mac-alikes would be far too pricy for cash-starved Cubans, who pay just under $800 for the machines. No Vista, either: The hardware required to run it costs too much money.

Cubans have only one choice of computer. It's Celeron-based, with an 80GB hard drive, 512MB of RAM, Windows XP, a CRT monitor, and a DVD drive. It costs just under $800, which is a tough purchase in a country whose average wage, according to the BBC, is under $20.

The computers can be purchased only in state-run stores. Internet access is restricted to a limited number of workplaces, schools and universities, the BBC says, so the PCs won't necessarily be a window onto the world for information-starved Cubans.

The PCs aren't brand names; according to the Irish Times, they are assembled by Cuban companies with parts imported from China.

One reason the PCs aren't brand names, of course, is that there's a U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. The Cuban government also claims the embargo is the reason that Internet access on Cuba is slow, expensive, and hard to get, because it prevents Cuba from linking to underseas fiber-optic cables.

Venezuala, though, is laying a new cable under the Carribean, and Cuba will be allowed to connect to it. But don't be surprised if Internet access is still limited in Cuba after the connection is made. Authoritarian governments all over the world fear the Internet, and Cuba is no different.