Microsoft is making good on its promise to find ways to sell more copies of Windows overseas.

On Tuesday night, company officials reiterated Microsoft's previously stated commitments to offer cut-rate Windows bundles in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. But Microsoft also is poised to roll out cheap, stripped-down Windows releases in two additional countries before the end of this year, company officials said.

See "Microsoft Creates New 'XP Starter Edition' Windows SKUs"

While Microsoft officials refused to specify the next two countries to get "XP Starter Edition" releases, the most likely candidates are Russia, Brazil, India and China.

Microsoft is counting on growing the market for Windows overseas in order to sustain momentum for the product. At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference this Windows Client Product Management Group VP Tom Button called out these four countries as the Windows client unit's top targets. Windows client officials have said repeatedly that Microsoft is working to establish new business models in these and other emerging markets where the focus will be on making PCs more affordable, accessible and durable.

The XP Starter Kit "is a tailored version of Windows that is designed specifically to be easier to use, easier to support, easier to sell, and to have a lower price that is appropriate for the emerging market needs," Microsoft Windows client vice president Will Poole told financial analysts in late July.

In the summer of 2003, in response to the success that Linux was having in the Thai marketplace, Microsoft began offering Thai citizens a Thai-localized bundle of Microsoft Windows XP Home and Office XP Standard. As part of the deal, Microsoft also stripped out some unspecified features from both products and slashed the price for the pair to 1,500 Thai Baht, or about $38 U.S. Microsoft Windows XP Home sells at retail for $225; Office XP Standard retails for $499.

In March 2004, Microsoft rolled out a similar program in Malaysia. As part of the Malaysian Gemilang program, like Thailand's People PC project, the government offers consumers a choice of a Linux bundle or a Windows bundle.

Read More on the Malaysian XP Bundle

Microsoft is characterizing the rollouts of the five XP Starter Edition releases as "12-month pilot programs." The Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian programs will commence officially in October (even though they Thai and Malayasian ones have been underway for several months now). After the official pilot phase ends, Microsoft "may introduce a local version of Starter Edition in additional developing markets in collaboration with governments committed to improving access to technology for their citizens," according to a statement released by Microsoft.

Microsoft has declined to specify until now which features of Windows XP it is stripping out vs. leaving in the Starter Edition releases. But according to the press release issued Tuesday evening, the XP Starter Editions will include: the security technologies that are part of the Windows XP Service Pack 2 release; the Internet Explorer browser; Windows Messenger instant-messaging program; Windows Media Player (release 9); and digital-photography-management tools.