Microsoft chairman, Bill Gates, has unveiled a new software operating system that will allow Chinese access to the Internet through their televisions.

The main selling point of the Venus system is that the software needed for television access to the Internet can be loaded into a single box, which costs considerably less than a personal computer. A Microsoft spokesman estimated the cost of the boxes as low as 1,500 Chinese RMB (€168) against RMB10,000 for a typical personal computer.

The boxes could accommodate a video compact disc player, a low-end personal computer and a web browser, executives said. Microsoft's software product for the Chinese market is expected to be ready for release at the end of the year.

"Our goal is a very aggressive goal, and that is to introduce millions and millions of people to computers and to the Internet," Mr Gates said at a ceremony in the southern city of Shenzhen on Wednesday.