12 Nov 2008 15:55
Microsoft has announced that Colombia will be the second country to pilot the use of One Laptop per Child's XO laptop in conjunction with Windows XP.
The deal, announced with the state government of Cundinamarca, will see the laptops put in two schools, including the Santa Maria Del Rio primary school. That school, which recently added its first computer lab, will now get additional PCs with the software training and infrastructure donated by Microsoft and the laptops themselves coming from OLPC.
Microsoft announced in September that Peru was the first country to sign up for the Windows-on-XO option.
News that the Windows version of the OLPC machine would be headed to Colombia was expected, after Microsoft quoted Colombian officials in its initial announcement that it was bringing Windows to the XO laptop.
"Transforming education is a fundamental goal of Microsoft Unlimited Potential, our ambitious effort to bring sustained social and economic opportunity to people who currently do not enjoy the benefits of technology," Microsoft senior vice president (and Colombian native) Orlando Ayala said in a statement. "Along with the State of Cundinamarca and OLPC, we are delivering a complete, relevant and affordable educational computing solution to schoolchildren in Colombia that will enhance their learning environment and prepare them for the global workforce."
The OLPC scheme started out offering only Linux, but the project received feedback about offering a Windows option from countries that said they believe it's important for students to learn the operating system that dominates in business.
Over time, OLPC hopes to offer a version that can boot in either Linux or Windows, although today countries have to choose one version or the other.
Students at the Santa Maria Del Rio primary school in Colombia, one of two schools in the country that will serve as a pilot for the Windows version of One Laptop per Child's XO laptop
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