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May 16, 2008

Officially announced yesterday, the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project and Microsoft said that the XO laptop will be available with both the Linux and the Windows operating system. Starting in June, the two companies plan to sell a Windows-powered XO in six countries, with a much broader release in the fourth quarter.

For the time being, OLPC and Microsoft aren't saying which countries they will start selling the Windows-based XO model in first, although a press release quotes an official in Colombia.

Meanwhile, OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte said "I'm not giving up on Linux and we ultimately aim to deliver machines that can boot into either operating system. There's no premeditated plan that one is going to dominate over the other. Having both operating systems is a very powerful option."

Negroponte added that starting out with Linux was essential. "For us to launch the laptop, we had no choice but to use open source. We needed the Linux community. We needed to get in there at the OS level to build devices and drivers to build the laptop."

Microsoft said the first XO laptops with Windows that will start rolling out in June will not be dual-boot computers. Microsoft executive James Utzschneider said the XO will help broaden the range of educational machines with Windows.

He added "there are just a lot of people that have fallen in love with that cute little laptop and they've said we want to see Windows on it."

Overall, Microsoft and OLPC have both talked about the importance of getting laptops in the hands of children in developing countries, although they haven't always talked in the fondest terms about one another's efforts.

Negroponte is hoping the move to Windows won't cost OLPC the things that made its product unique. The company is aiming to port the XO's "Sugar" interface over to Windows. "We are in discussions with several third parties," Negroponte said. "I suspect we will have some conclusion next week or the week after."

He added that the 50-person OLPC Foundation itself lacks the resources to tackle the software project. "Plus, we don't have the skill set," he said. OLPC hasn't done that well," Chairman Bill Gates said in a January interview.

Speaking at a Linux conference more than two years ago, Negroponte said of working with Linux and AMD rather than Intel and Microsoft: "AMD is our partner, which means Intel is pissing on me. Bill Gates is not pleased either, but if I am annoying Microsoft and Intel then I figure I am doing something right..."

Source: OLPC and Microsoft.

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