One Laptop Project Adds Windows
Open-source advocates like saying Linux is free, as in free speech; not free, as in free beer. Well, for the price of a cold one, Microsoft plans to make its software an option on laptops throughout the developing world. The software giant and the One Laptop Per Child project said Thursday that they will install the Windows operating system on the OLPC’s cheap XO laptops. The plan, says OLPC spokesperson Kyle Austin, is to redesign the laptops, adding another $7 worth of hardware so that they can run a stripped down version of Windows, which costs $3 a copy, in addition to running the OLPC’s version of the Linux operating system.
That makes sense on a machine where every dollar counts. The XO currently costs roughly $180, although as more laptops are cranked out, they will likely come down in price, Austin noted. Trials of so-called dual-boot laptops will begin in June, although those will involve machines equipped with secure digital card readers, rather than gear designed to handle a dual-boot system. Laptops designed for poor children have become a sort of proving ground for low-cost Internet devices. Intel is pushing a rival design, dubbed the Classmate. Intel’s processors power the Classmate, while Advanced Micro Devices chips are powering the XO.
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