Educational laptop could get Windows as well as Linux.
Educational laptop could get Windows as well as Linux.
Microsoft is looking to have its Windows operating system run on the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) notebook computers, OLPC chairman said at the Netevents conference in Hong Kong on Saturday.
"I've known Bill [Gates] his entire adult life. We talk, we meet one on one, we discuss this project," Negroponte said according to a transcript.
"We put in an SD slot in the machine just for Bill. We didn't need it but those machines are at Microsoft right now, getting Windows put on them."
The SD slots allows users to add additional storage capacity to the units. Additional memory would be required for Windows to run on the current XO test models because they ship with only 512Mb of built in flash memory.
The system requirements for Windows XP demand a minimum of 1.5Gb of storage space for both the Home and low cost Starter Edition that Microsoft targets at developing nations.
Microsoft testing Windows on the OLPC comptuers marks a major shift in the strategy for the project. It is designed to run a set of open source applications including an adapted version of Red Hat's Fedora Linux distribution.
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates in the past has publicly criticized the project, arguing that its small screen and lack of a hard disk caused it to be underpowered.
The educational project attempts to build a low cost notebook computer that will improve education for children in developing economies. As the device is nearing completion, test units are currently being distributed to nations that have expressed interest in purchasing the the notebooks such as Nigeria and Brazil.
When Negroponte first announced the project in January 2005, the said that he was aiming for a price tag of US$100 per device. This prompted the project to be nicknamed the $100 laptop. The first units however are expected to cost around $177(US$140), with prices dropping as production ramps up and component prices decrease.
Microsoft didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.