Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 16th May 2008 09:29 UTC
Microsoft and the One Laptop Per Child project have announced an agreement to work together on getting Windows XP available on the XO laptop, with trials starting in June 2008, and the RTM date set for August or September. Microsoft also demonstrated Windows XP Professional and Office 2003 running on the XO laptop - fully featured.
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Member since:2006-06-03
Member since:2006-01-06
It's because Microsoft sent lobbyists to all the 3rd world countries governments' warning them how much accepting a Linux-based system would cost them in lost future deals, and so all the governemnts demanded XP.
Or, as an alternate theory, most of the 3rd world countries already pirate Windows, so they might as well all use compatible software.
Edited 2008-05-17 03:07 UTC
Member since:2005-11-12
Another question: If GNU/Linux was not user-friendly enough, why is OS X (or one of its lighter derivates) not considered or offered as a serious option? Even more, because Apple seems to have offered to provide such version.
This all seems a bit of a strange change of mind, that throws away all the intentions of this project, primarily the emphasis on education rather than providing a laptop. In some way the OLPC project seems to have lost its innocence and is just another laptop project. As such, they are putting themselves in the same playing field as the classmate PC, etc. This all seems sour to people who have contributed to OLPC as an education project.
This all seems a bit of a strange change of mind, that throws away all the intentions of this project, primarily the emphasis on education rather than providing a laptop. In some way the OLPC project seems to have lost its innocence and is just another laptop project. As such, they are putting themselves in the same playing field as the classmate PC, etc. This all seems sour to people who have contributed to OLPC as an education project.
Microsoft will do a lot to keep their monopoly. It wouldn't suprise me if MS did not only give away windows for free, but actually donated a large sum to the project in return for them using it. Is it a coincidence that both EEE and OLPC, two projects with potential of bringing Linux to the masses, are moving towards Windows at the same time?
Although I must say that the OLPC devs did a poor job on their Linux distribution. 4 minutes just to boot the machine? How many services are they starting?
Member since:2006-04-10
Member since:2005-07-06
Because as already said in a previous post Microsoft Xp , Vista and Mac OS X lite and Mac OS X don't run on the original OLPC hardware.
In case you missed it the original 60$ OLPC computer turned into a 150$ device after the demand of Microsoft and other special interest requirements , but they finally made it working on a newer updated hardware wise and software wise model at 200$ per unit years after the original deadline , by investing outside the project in outside developers.
Member since:
2005-11-18
One of the motivations for the child-oriented Sugar interface was to avoid that parents take the machines that were handed out to kids for their education. Since Microsoft seems to provide an ordinary Windows interface, how will they prevent this from happening?
<irony>I for one welcome many children to the world of malware and DRM eBooks.</irony>
Another question: If GNU/Linux was not user-friendly enough, why is OS X (or one of its lighter derivates) not considered or offered as a serious option? Even more, because Apple seems to have offered to provide such version.
This all seems a bit of a strange change of mind, that throws away all the intentions of this project, primarily the emphasis on education rather than providing a laptop. In some way the OLPC project seems to have lost its innocence and is just another laptop project. As such, they are putting themselves in the same playing field as the classmate PC, etc. This all seems sour to people who have contributed to OLPC as an education project.