Story: Microsoft closer to getting Windows on XO laptops
Vista on OLPC = $1000 Laptop
No surprise that they aren't trying to port Vista onto the OLPC - they would have to call it the $1000 laptop if that happened!
This was always going to be a really ambitious project and compromise was going to be needed to make it a reality but I can't help thinking that with the increase in price and now the news that Microsoft is porting XP to the device - that this project is losing sight of some of the goals it set itself. Ok - maybe the price rise was inevitable - and who is to say it won't come down in time - but Windows? Negroponte, the man behind OLPC, made a real song and dance about how clunky and unyieldy WIndows was and why it wouldn't be on his laptop - but that all seems to have changed.
The chance for OLPC to live up to one of Negroponte's goals of puttting a Linux machine in front of millions of children - looks like it could be threatened because given the choice developing countries will usually roll-over and go for Windows as its seen as the OS of the developed world - the same goes for Office and other apps. This is not based on usability - just prejudice.
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