Windows Coming on Dual-boot OLPC

May 17, 2008

The One Laptop per child project and plan to make Microsoft Windows and Linux available in a draft version of the XO laptop, the companies on Thursday.

The parties expect to deliver a dual-boot system XO in August or September that will both traditional Linux-based Sugar operating system of XO and a low-cost student version of Windows XP, according to Austin Kyle, a representative OLPC.

Nicholas Negroponte OLPC President has spoken in the past to a dual boot XO model, but this is the first official announcement of such a system. The XO has been developed by OLPC for children in developing countries. The availability of Windows on the system will give customers more choices in operating systems and let them use Windows-based educational software and tools, the parties said. Customers and partners around the world have asked for Windows in XO, they said.

Austin said that the dual system will boot sugar and innovation of Microsoft Student Suite, a U.S. $ 3 which offers software that President Bill Gates announced last year. Gates said the suite will include a version of Windows XP, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Microsoft Math 3.0, Learning Essentials 2.0 for Microsoft Office and Windows Live Mail.

A Microsoft representative confirmed the XO would be a version of Windows XP, but said the details had not yet been determined.

Tests on Windows laptops will begin in June in certain countries, they said. During the trial, Windows reside in a SD (Secure Digital) card slot portable SD, according to Austin, but in the last shipment of machines, both operating systems will be on the hard drive.

OLPC is working with third-party developers to take the distinctive XO’s Sugar user interface found over Windows, but the dual boot systems coming later this year using the Windows interface innovations Suite for students, said Austin.

Microsoft and OLPC does not specify the price of dual-boot system on Thursday.

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