OLPC reboots into Windows (and Ginger roadtrip)

Embrace IT Blogwatch: in which Microsoft's working on booting Windows on the "$100" XO laptop. Not to mention Seattle to Boston at 10 mph...

Previously on this topic:

• So farewell then, OLPC CTO
• OLPC's "$100" XO laptop to go GOGO
• You can buy OLPC's $100 XO laptop for $260?

Dan Nystedt reports:

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project and Microsoft Corp. are working together to develop a dual-boot system to put both Linux and Windows on laptops aimed at kids in developing countries ... Microsoft has embraced the open-source community over the past few years in a very different way than before ... said Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of OLPC ... OLPC is also working with Microsoft and possibly the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on combining OLPC laptops with some of the educational programs run by Microsoft in developing countries. [more]

Todd Bishop adds:

Negroponte ... is speaking here at [CES], a week after Intel dropped its support for the project ... Microsoft has been tentative in its support, planning field trials but cautioning that it might not work out ... He confirmed that Microsoft and OLPC are talking about the possibility of offering the ability to dual boot the OLPC XO laptop into either Windows or Linux, but the plans sounded perhaps more tentative than reflected in some coverage. [more]

Microsoft's James Utzschneider:

There have been suggestions ... that “Windows already runs on the XO.” That’s not really the case yet ... we are hard at work on the project here ... [it's] by no means done. Between Microsoft employees and third party contractors that we have brought into the effort, we have over 40 engineers working full-time on the port ... includes drivers for the XO’s wireless networking, camera, graphics processor, audio system, and the various user input devices ... There are ten custom drivers in all that we are writing. We also hope to support the XO’s mesh network design, its power-saving “e-book” mode, and its capability for excellent screen visibility in full daylight. [more]

John Murrell addresses another FAQ:

Negroponte also said his organization would launch OLPC America later this year to bring the machines to needy students in the United States. [more]

But eldavojohn worries people are delusional:

This is an all out attack on open source software. They are vying for the young minds of every single child in developing countries ... I'm all for getting the children any operating system they want, in fact I'm glad they will have that choice ... [but] they are interested in profit, nothing more. I would love to applaud them for coming around and realizing that open source software is a viable solution for making money--and even improving a product! But ... they only actively threaten it in underhanded ways. [more]

jav1231 is more sedate:

It would appear that Negroponte is in need of further funding. That would explain the Intel involvement. Their departure has been noted. Now Microsoft is on board, no doubt bringing cash. Personally, I think this is a mistake. There are millions of PC's with Windows already on them. M$ has had 2 decades to do this. They are far less concerned about getting Windows into the hands of the needy and more concerned with making sure no one runs any other OS but Windows. Get that crack into a new generation so we can ensure our business model. Good business you say? Maybe. But OLPC was supposed to be about charity, not business. [more]

Locutus adds rumor, and stirs:

From what I've heard, even the Bill/Melinda Gates Foundation computer donations come with restrictions on usage of Linux and OSS. So they still want Linux and OSS destroyed and helping kids is only PR. IMO. [more]

Not to worry, says callmetheraven:

If you've read the specs on the XO machines, you know that they're about as powerful as a mainstream desktop machine in about 1998. Can you imagine how well [Windows] will run on these little boxen? ... Let ... all the little children of the world ... see that it's such a resource hog it converts your neato XO into a thrashing paperweight. [more]

And finally...

• Traveling on a Segway from Seattle to Boston

Buffer overflow:

• John Levine: The Internet Archive Really Is Reliable
• ForbesOnTech: Editors, Get Back to Basics: News Before Blogs
• Ed Foster: Business Objects Licensing Tool Doesn't Deliver
• Lawrence Lessig: On the continuing question of © and the First Amendment
• Steve's IT Rants: A Sign of the End?
• PC Mechanic: Google Maps Goes Political
• Groklaw: Interview with OLPC's Founding CTO Mary Lou Jepsen, by Sean Daly
• Jon Stokes: AT&T torpedoes its own stock, takes other telcos down too

Other Computerworld bloggers:

• Eric Lai: The 22-year-old behind Everex CloudBook's Linux OS
• Michael R. Farnum: The New Jersey Logic Bomb Case has some problems
• Seth Weintraub: NetNewsWire, other NewsGator products, now free
• Computerworld Techcast: Ray Kurzweil, Part I: The future of computing
• Ian Lamont: Second Life cracks down on "banks"
• Lucas Mearian: A new technology called "flash memory"
• Barbara Krasnoff: CES 2008: You don't need a big booth to get attention
• Angela Gunn: A presidential debate you'd like to see
• Robert L. Mitchell: The three revolutions of IT
• Mark Hall: The SaaS is always greener
• Preston Gralla: AT&T losses are bad news for Vonage
• Shark Tank: Efficiency vs. effectiveness, episode 476
• Robert L. Mitchell: Why Clinton victory doesn't compute
• Shark Bait: Not THAT badge

Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 22 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You too can pretend to be Richi's friend...

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• FCC to quiz Comcast on Bittorrent hoo-hah (and filmtypos)
• Gates' last hurrah at CES (and try-try-try again)
• NYT distrusts e-voting now (and Photoextreme)