Microsoft joins OLPC – Windows XP to be available on XO laptops
When it started out, the One Laptop Per Child initiative was the epitome of an anti-Microsoft, a non-profit organisation intended to sell cheap and easy to use laptops to help kids in developing countries have access to technology. Now, Microsoft is on board, and the Windows XP operating system, soon to be obsolete to anyone buying a standard PC, will be available on the XO laptops.
Up until now, the OLPC laptops have been using the open source Linux operating system, but only because Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the project had his first approach to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates shunned.
At the time, Gates, along with Intel Chairman Craig Barrett dismissed the XO because of it’s lack of processing power and tiny screen. However, Intel then came on side before falling out again just a few months later due to what it claims was pressure to stop pushing its own Classmate PC device. Gates was also said to have been uneasy with having anything to do with a project which may help promote open source technology.
According to The New York Times, last year Negroponte again contacted Gates, and this time, he instructed Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer, to work out a deal with Mr. Negroponte. That deal has culminated in the long expected announcement that Windows XP will be available on the XO laptops from next month, though initially it wil only be via pilot programs in emerging markets.
XO buyers will now the option of buying a laptop with Windows or Linux installed, with the former costing $18 to $20 more, $3 of which is for Windows, with the rest going to hardware adjustments to make it poosble for the machine to actually run the OS, including a 2GB memory card rather than a 1GB one.
The overall aim is to end up with dual booting machines, meaning all XO laptops will come with Linux and Windows, and allow users to decide which one to boot up with depending on their needs.
This new deal could help the OLPC massively increase its sales potential, as it’s understood that a lot of foreign governments have so far resisted the calls to buy in to the scheme due to the lack of a Windows operating system.
Related Posts:
May 16th, 2008
2 GB drive to run both XP and Linux? Am I missing something here? One wonders how this will run on XP without the needed anti-spyware and anti malware programs, or maybe that would not be a issue in third world countries?
May 16th, 2008
How pointless. BSD or Linux gives an open platform that is easily scaled for the equipment it will run on. If someone has the interest they can have access to all of the code to change and improve it for the benefit of all. Not real sure of any benefit derived from squeezing a proprietary OS onto a machine it’s ill suited for. Anyone that has used Windows CE or a Windows smartphone will run like hell for another option.
May 17th, 2008
I would tend to agree Ken. I’ve become a great fan of the EeePC (I bought it, it wasn’t a freebie), and I’ve found that Linux is more than capable for doing anything the average user is going to need to do.
May 25th, 2008
I think I would like an XP-based XO, but mine is the earlier version. I wonder if they’ll offer an upgrade kit or if I’m just out of luck.
September 15th, 2010
Hi, I agree with you … And I think laptops today include all the options provided by a standard PC like keyboard, display, a pointing device (functions like mouse) and speakers. Laptops are powered by a rechargeable battery that can last up to a few hours. Personally… I have a HP Pavilion dv600, I LOVE it since it was my first laptop :D but I’m thinking now to buy something better since its became old now… I’m not sure what it’s the best, But maybe I’ll search for a Dell since I can’t buy a Mac :( it’s too expensive!! So what is your advice please?