A few months ago Microsoft announced it would allow makers of ultra low cost PCs or ULPCs to continue offering Windows XP even though the company is trying to retire the operating system.

In order to qualify, a computer needs to meet pretty strict requirements. It needs to have a slow processor, relatively small hard drive, and no more than 1GB of RAM. Basically, this is Microsoft’s effort to convince PC makers like Asus to offer Windows XP as an alternative to Linux, and to sweeten the pot, Microsoft is dropping the price of Windows XP to between $26 and $32.

Now Eee PC News.de reports that the first computers using the new Windows XP ULPC license are shipping. The Eee Box, which is the desktop version of the Eee PC comes with a ULPC edition sticker. As far as I can tell, there’s no real difference between Windows XP Home Edition ULPC and a regular OEM version of XP Home. The only difference is in the license and the license fee.