"The founder of the ambitious "$100 laptop" project, which plans to give inexpensive computers to schoolchildren in developing countries, revealed Thursday that the machine for now costs $175, and it will be able to run Windows in addition to its homegrown, open-source interface." More here.
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Member since:2007-03-26
To clear some points up (regarding which version of Windows this system will be running and license costs) a few have asked/commented on:
"XO's developers have been working with Microsoft Corp. so a version of Windows can run on the machines as well. It could be the $3 software package that Microsoft announced last week for governments that subsidize student computers. It includes Windows XP Starter Edition and some of Microsoft's "productivity" software."
This was directly quoted from the linked article and anyone who bothered to read this article before posting speculation would have found their questions were already answered
[edit]
and those of you who have joked about if it will run Linux/BSD. It's default operating system /IS/ Linux (a custom build of Red Hat) - and again all this is in the linked article.
Edited 2007-04-27 13:33
Member since:2007-02-22
This was directly quoted from the linked article and anyone who bothered to read this article before posting speculation
My speculation is that it'll be based on Windows XP for Legacy Computers. That version has significantly reduced system requirements -- I can't look them up right now, but it might be able to run on the OPLC as-is.
Member since:2006-10-11
Please, the article says that there is a MS Windows version that can run on the OLPC. or in other words: the OLPC can run a MS Windows version. The article doesn't say will run a MS Windows version. The project is not saying MS Windows will be the default, the project is not even offering MS Windows as an optional operating system. The project still only advocates the use of FOSS and only deploys FOSS on the OLPC. All they are really saying is that, yes, MS Windows can run on the OLPC.
I'm all for keeping a wary eye on companies like Microsoft, but this is getting ridiculous.
Member since:
2007-02-11
Is it just me, or is the price tag rising for some... reason I really can't see clearly.
I simply don't get the point of running Windows on a OLPC system. Microsoft is on the verge on retiring support for Windows XP, and, seeing OLPC's configuration, Windows Vista won't even consider it to be a computer.
And furthermore, if the project aims to integrate poorly developed countries into the IT world, what is the point of offering them a 175$ OLPC with Windows? Surely they're not expecting the IT infrastructure in those countries to be built upon Windows XP Starter Edition -- and just about any other Windows version I can think more costs more than the laptop itself.
If they really wanted to do the oh-lets-help-bthem-build-their-IT-world, they would concentrate on the Linux side of it, not because Linux is stable, secure or whatever else trolls would be fighting over, but simply because, unlike Windows, it's fscking free. I wonder what the Get The Facts campaign would state here -- sure, the total ownership costs would be higher (*cough*) but who gives a damn about that when the money required to purchase all the Windows licenses could be used to feed the whole country for two years.