RSSOLPC hopes Windows is its sales savior
By Ed Oswald | Published May 16, 2008, 11:24 AM
Representing a major alignment shift, the One Laptop Per Child project announced Thursday it had come to an agreement with Microsoft to put Windows XP on its XO Laptop.
The move would push the cost of the system up, which the company had been trying to reduce. Currently the "$100 laptop" costs about $188 to produce, however with Windows, that price could increase by $18 to $20.
In order to get Windows to run on the device, the group needs to pony up an extra $3 for the operating system itself, and the rest to make hardware adjustments including more memory.
Microsoft has spent more than a year developing a version of Windows for the device, it said.
So far, many countries have pushed back on attempts by OLPC to purchase laptops with its own Linux OS variant called Sugar. Its struggles have held back sales: instead of the several million it expected to ship at this point, only about 600,000 have been sold.
Initial deployments have begun in Afghanistan, Haiti, Mexico, Mongolia, Peru, Rwanda, and Uruguay, as well as in Birmingham, Ala.
OLPC will initially roll out the Windows version XO on a limited basis beginning in June. Eventually, a higher priced dual-boot version, which could boot into either Linux or Windows could be manufactured.
"From the beginning, the goal of OLPC has been to use technology to transform education by bringing connectivity and constructionist learning to the poorest children throughout the world," OLPC's Nicholas Negroponte said. "Today's announcement, coupled with future plans for a dual boot version of the XO laptop, enhances our ability to deliver on this vision."
i don't understand why people would want to buy a laptop with windows xp, since it's already over 7 years old and on it's way out
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|um, wait a sec - is the stripped down version of XP replacing the SugarOS or being offered as an alternative OS ?
I don't agree with most of the things Linus Torvald said, but I do agree with his stance on OS - there is enough variation in people's preferences that no one OS should be the only OS. And yes, he meant that a linux OS was not for everybody.
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|I can sooo see hundreds of these laptops being sold for food once they hit ground zero. They'll get passed around like currency. What would you rather if you were in a third world, your very own cow from which you can get fresh milk or the blue screen of death.
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|COW COW COW!
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|There is no cow level.
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|Currently, there are only 3 real desktop OS options:
1. A Linux distro - this has proven to be less than desirable.
2. OS X - Can't imagine Apple allowing this.
3. Windows.
EDIT: The context here is the OS for OLPC.
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|Less than desirable to who, you?
It's fine for millions of users, just like OSX and Windows are.
Thanks.
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|Millions vs. hundreds of millions...
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|Hmm, your opinion doesn't make his comment any more valid.
Thanks, it's nice hearing from the "I hate Linux club (tm)" though.
:-D
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|Not one program I use to make a living works with OSX (without some god awful windows emulator). Therefore it sucks by definition in my world. Apple fanatics are a strange bunch who like to appear intellectually superior by sitting in Borders or Barnes & Noble with thier notebooks while drinking a bitter $6 Caramel Macchiato Grande.
I'll take a Dunkin Donuts XL and Vista any day and sit back in my beach wear and flip flops laughing at how much I dont give a s*** what people think of my outside appearance and what a bunch of dumb asses they really are.
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|You are taking it out of context.
From what I read, those developing countries that OLPC is targetting do not find Linux very attractive (for whatever reason).
Nobody is saying Linux is bad. For the record, I use Ubuntu at home.
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|Yeah, I had a Macbook pro checked out at work for about 2 days before I turned it back in and went back to Ubuntu.
There's nothing wrong with Macs per se, I just don't like the OS.
Haven't had enough time with Vista to love it or hate it. I ran it only long enough to grab the wallpapers before I blasted Ubuntu down on this thing. :-D
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|Millions vs. hundreds of millions
...ain't technically an opinion. ;)
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|No, not really. I don't honestly think they care, they are too worried about the little things like eating, and shelter.
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|Suppose not. :-D
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|Sad news, tying up the poor countries to paid for software can only be a bad thing.
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|If anything this should make the OLPC cheaper because Microsoft would subsidize some of the cost. This is typical crappy reporting from tech "news" sites.
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|Unless you feel that all news sites are 'crappy' I wouldn't get so worked up. The figures are the same for all of them, including CNN.
BTW, Microsoft wants in on this really bad...they just have to get the kiddies hooked on the UI, no matter how poor the underpinnings are.
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|If Ms is so bad then how come kids are getting "hooked" on it. Maybe there is a secret ingredient that's like crack.:) Ms GUI=crack. better inform the FBI
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|The reason why some countries are more willing to buy XO laptops with Windows instead of Sugar is IMO quite simple: The UI.
And the reason is not because Microsoft's operating system is better than Linux, it is just because it is more traditional. Sugar's UI is way too different from the traditional windows/folders/files desktop. A child that gets used to Sugar's UI will have to learn using traditional systems from the beginning and some coutries see that as counterproductive.
If XO laptops were shipped with Linux and some kind of light Gnome or KDE window manager it would probably be more interesting to potential buyers (countries).
Microsoft sees that just as an oportunity to expand its product to the develloping countries.
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|I suspect they'll get more $$$ from them on Ebay if they have XP loaded on them.
Wonder how much rice they can buy per XO.
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|You can always tell the people who know nothing about the U.S.- they are the ones that think every part of the country is well-off and can afford expensive pcs or apples. So including many cities in the U.S. makes sense.
As far as this project dropping open source, this is old news. they dropped it some time ago and opted for windows which may or may not say a lot depending on your bias.
Have a nice day:)
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|When these things hit the street, regardless of OS, it will make the 413 scam pale in comparison...
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|Of course, so many children in third world nations have been holding out for XP...
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|They have not exactly been knocking down the door to get linux.
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|Not every Linux based OS is created equal. Sugar is a pathetic and half a**ed attempt.
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|I'm gonna take a wild stab in the dark here an guess that they may be a little more concerned about food, water, and shelter than any "OS".
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|OKay...
I lol'ed.
I'm going to Hell...
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|LOL, so Birmingham is lumped in with 3rd World Nations.
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|Well...
Have you *been* there?
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|If it's anything like the English Birmigham I'll bet it's a dump.
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|I really don't "get" the Sugar interface. I can usually pick up any device and figure it out, but Sugar is totally non-intutitve IMHO.
Not that Windows is the pinnacle of UI...
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