Sorry to say, its OLPC, 

ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD.

NOT 

ONE LINUX PER CHILD.

you dont care that its to educate children in 3rd world countries, you only want to push your linux barrow.

Why not give them something they can use not something you can use as you political tool and to suit your own ego's.

Linux Fanbois are your own worst enemy, that being your fundamentalism and elitiest.

IF MS can product a cut down OS that does the job of eductation, fine great.

Sure linux cannot say you have gained market share or enslaved a large number of programmers or Linux users.
but who cares, this is to educate the children NOT in computer science but in real world things, like reading, science and history, medicine.

IF Windows can do that, and i would expect for a very low price or free great 

OH btw: when was the last time FOSS/Linux gave billions of dollars to help 3rd world problems. ?? 

SO be big boys and girls, and suck it up.

So Micro$oft does a buy-in (actually, a sell-in) for $3 a head to build a vast indoctrination network — get the kids young — it's why religions grab 'em early! 

Now that Dr. Negroponte has succumbed to the Raptor of Redmond, we might guess that OLPC stands for One Lousy Personal Computer. Oh well, at least Walter Bender wasn't replaced by 'Screamin' Steve' Ballmer.

As a third-worlder myself, I've always been baffled by the idiocy of the OLPC. It's an utopian idea that should have dropped long ago in favor of computers for schools and teachers. If this had been the purpose from the start, 500000 of them would have accomplished quite a bit.

I for one applaud the move.

WinXP is much more forgiving than any Linux install, and it doesn't take any more resources than Linux, once you load up KDE, Gnome, X-Windows and other desktop stuff.

MS development tools, while they may produce less efficient code, are far more productive than Linux equivalents.

Why should a bunch of self-appointed do-gooders force the 3rd world to use Linux, instead of what the 1st world uses?

Don't forget to read this article: 

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/22/ms-unashamedly-screws-music

When Microsoft 'turns off' it's activation servers for XP, does do the lights go out in the 3rd world countries?

YES, it's true that Microsoft's strategy is and has been about anti-competitive behavior. And we can even add, Microsoft has frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies--and then leverage its dominance into new, adjacent markets...

But, the real question isn't even Microsoft here, it's how the economy is based upon IPR. In the U.S. business function under the laws, of which "Intellectual Property Rights" dictate how businesses conduct themselves. Microsoft like many other corporations are just exploiting the given situation.

In lessor developing countries, even such one as mainland China, where rampant economic development occurs, the need for sharing the works of innovation remains a top priority, and NOT the need of maintaining monopolies such as the MPAA and RIAA content distributors. 

Does anyone think in Sudan, for example, the need of preventing others from building upon prior innovation is greater in need? Have you recently been to Sudan? 

Have you been to many of the third world developing countries? Where even toilets are missing, where people are under oppression and told IPR like in China needs to be adopted. Why or rather for who's benefit? 

The truth is, IPR has increasingly become an instrument for securing huge investments. But for a democratic society, that thrives on a large diversity of freely expressed and discussed cultural expressions, it's succumbs to stagnation and regression, all because of some bureaucratic encumbrance of intellectual property rights.

Copyrights are selfish; they place the good of the one (the creator) over the good of the many (the audience). Instead of allowing a work to be improved and redistributed by those who may be more qualified than the original author, works are restricted in the name of monetary profit.

Supporting open source code, allows everyone to build upon and improve technology. People become enablers, not dependent upon such corporations like Microsoft. Whom dictate with pre-loaded PC client machines their EULA draconian stipulations. The public isn't allowed to review the source code. 

How is that better? It just establishes a special market niche for Microsoft to hold on to it's monopolistic business practices...

OLPC shouldn't force developing "cheaper growing adults" with software that is ALL proprietary source code. 

If you let OLPC become owned, copyrighted and patent, you're going to create even more dependency upon Microsoft or whatever other IPR corporation.

"...sad and disappointing news for anyone who actually believed OLPC was an ideological company, standing up to the software behemoths."
A common misunderstanding. Mr Negroponte is standing up FOR the software behemoths.

Regarding the maths, let me get this straight: they are suffering from low sales figures, so they are decreasing choice to fix this??!

One thing with WinXP is often overlooked. A friend bought an eeek-PC for his son. He was planning to use Linux but got the WinXP version (to get the licence) just in case he'll need it. The first time he connected to the net, he proceeded download a few critical updates. Everything went downhill from there. After some head head scratching, out went WinXP and in came Linux. Father and son are reported to be much happier now.

In a slow device that has tiny memory, WinXP is a killer. Just doesn't work. If you think it does for you, you are welcome to it. You deserve it, too.

You know a project is done for, when:

(1) Their original goals have changed dramatically. (open source to closed source).

(2) When you start hearing of Microsoft getting involved.

(3) When you hear about the key people leaving the project!

(4) When you read about the head of the project using an excuse to justify a poorly managed project...Why take responsibility when you can easily blame someone else (or a group), for your screw up?

So I guess OLPC needs to be re-defined in meaning now.

One Laptop Per Child is DEAD.

Its is now...

One License Per Child.
(Microsoft will be very happy!).

Windows XP Home SP2, eh? Doesn't that use Admin account by default? Not exactly safe for kids, is it?

Stupid decision on their part. But it's not a big deal in the scheme of things, because a) the momentum departed OLPC a while ago, and moved to the Asus Eee and its competitors, and b) all the hard work that was put into developing the custom "Sugar" interface and other Linux stuff is not lost, being Free Software it can be reused by other projects in future.

Read this, from the horses mouth :-

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Windows

I can't help but to think that the switch to Windows is just giving in to the common perception that any "normal" PC runs a proprietary and profitable Operating System created by Microsoft, Inc.

I don't mean to sound like a contrarian, but a computer is a computing device, and the operating system is just the means to interface hardware with a user (to be fair, the OS is the opinion of its creator as to what a UI should be).

Affluent users can exercise preference to "MacOS" or "Vista" or "XP" or "Linux" or a host of others. On the other hand, OLPC doesn't offer a choice. If nothing else, OLPC should recognize a simple connection between a PERSON and the greater world of LEARNING offered by ANY combination of computer and OS:

--UNBIASED ACCESS TO THE WWW (especially to the likes of Wikipedia)
--STANDARDS COMPLIANCE to prevent The Web equivalence of a monopoly.
--GENERAL LITERACY in finding, interpreting and using information about the world we live in, without sugar coating or political filtering.
-- ADVANCED TOPICS in INFORMATION PROCESSING with word processing, spreadsheets, databases, programming, etc.

None of these requires any Microsoft product. Open-source alternatives often provide a richer, more versatile and world-fluent alternative. Learn the fundamentals, independent of any OS, and you'll be more fluent in world bazaar of information and computing.

Stick with Microsoft and you'll find yourself in a very narrow chasm of Microsoft's opinion of how the world should work.



And pretty much the same price, and doing much better.

Still, this is just sad.

Yes, Nick, you have alienated all your bright and idealistic employees - many who have left - and you have filled your toy computer with the evil bot-spewing OS of XP. Yes, spew the MS-infection onto the Third World! Enslave their minds! Your journey to the Dark Side is complete!

I really don't think this is about higher profits. In all likelihood microsoft is providing the software free of charge and might even be donating extra money to the project, this would allow for the prices of the laptops to be lower, thus helping to spread them.

Also if the project is going to keep low prices it is going to need a high volume of sales. This is best achieved by having a platform that the large majority of people are familiar with. 

Linux is a great idea, but for right now microsoft has a product that is more compatible with more things, which makes things simpler and ultimately that is what most people from a computer.

OLPC was supposed to be about
educating and liberating the
developing world, not enslaving
it to Big Brother Bill (Steve).
Now we'll have another bumper
crop of computer illiterates.

downloading sp3 over dialup sure is gonna be fun

If I recall correctly, OLPC is no more tied to Linux than it is to AMD's Geode processor. Linux happens to be an obvious fit, but a Windows-only platform was never out of the question. It may seem odd, but if that's what you have to do to move units and it's compatible with your mission then that's what you do.

As I understand it, open source purism has been getting in the way of progress for OLPC, so it's being scrapped as a central part of the project.

As for the specifics of a switch to Windows, I think you can expect a much lighter version that won't take up nearly as much space, won't have so many background processes, and probably won't have any of that WGA nonsense. It might even have some really interesting customization.

I really thought to buy 1-2 of them for my nephews, to give them the opportunity to learn and experiment in the same way i have done with old spectrum and c64, without bling bling but the fun of seeing code running. This plus the idea of helping developing countries in a different way and satisfaction in seeing a project with no profit goal now are dead.

I hope that inquirer's wombats were not joking with this title.

I will start a very particular strike, i will not buy , at least for 2 years, any new electronic gadget, pc component or device.

I will not spend my money greedy bastards.

So long

Jinx

OLPC´s problems arise from the fact that the Linux guys designed an operating abomination instead of the typical OS.

They tried to invent new paradigms for the sake of it.

People want files, icons, menus and windows.

Just check the Asus EEE pc

Damn them!

Negroponte is just a moronic idiot (yeah, I know, I'm being redundant).
I still remember when Steve Jobs said that he would give Mac OS X for free to be used in the OLPCs. Negroponte then rejected that option because it wasn't OSS and whatnot. Now they are going after Billy.

How corrupt or idiot can anybody get?

On the bright side, I never held high hopes for this project. Everybody ditch your OLPCs and get the Classmates before it's too late!

Do you guys work freelance? Do you work in the same place? Do you talk to each other? Or do you have a bunch of loose cannons running around, ejaculating what ever strikes you’re fancy on any particular morning.

A couple of weeks ago Charlie beat the snot out of INTC because they backed out on the OLPC deal. The way he described it you would think INTC STARVED 3rd world children.

Today, however, Nick NeG. is smelling coffee! If this computing genius can't decide on an OS, how on this earth is he going to decide hardware requirements, putting aside costing this stuff out en mass? 

It seems that INTC smelled the coffee a bit sooner than both Nick and Charlie. 

By the way, does Charlie know what coffee is? Perhaps he's to busy Dancing in the aisles?

SPARKS

linux is just simply not plug and play-who needs kde and gnome, who needs all the rest of barnacles, make it simple make it easy point and click until then it's just bullshit and an also ran

Seems the OLPC has ditched its last remaining virtue. Looks as if the capitalist pig dogs (sic) have won this round. The eee now looks very competitive for this market.

Here's my spin on it:

http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/devel/2008-April/013064.html

Enjoy.

It started so well, high hopes all around. Cool technology, solid operating system with community support.
How sad to see this end this way, for that this is the start of the end is obvious to me.
What are they thinking. Lets dump linux and install a heavier OS on it, and lets choose an OS that has been declared dead a few times allready. If it wasnt for public demand XP would be dead, and it still might/will be soon. 
Soon everybody who wanted one will be better of buying a cheap normal laptop.
What a shame

This just means a few million more techno-idiots running a vulnerable OS pumping out "Enlarge you penis" emails or whatever else their botnet master wishes.

Ideals don't pay the bills.

Oh well, they were too expensive anyway for my liking. I'd much rather have a nice sexier EeePC and install Ubuntu on it.

Maybe if the OLPC was $100 each then I would buy one. I certainly won't be buying one now. I want a reliable machine that won't run like a slug so XP wouldn't be on my list of things to run on it.

The idea of having a US company helping developing countries is like putting a wolf in charge of the sheeps' diet. OLPC is bad enough, but with MS as partner the developing countries will learn what a "partner" is. Just take a look at the agricultural market and you will understand why the developing countries have to help themselves.

You're over 3 weeks late for April fools. Without any form of confirmation for your claims (so far), given the Inquirer's tenuous connection with reality I'll wait for more sources.

Nice windup piece though.

We don't EAT the OLPC we constantly patch, update and protect from viruses the OLPC!

Are you supposed to be a journalist? Your narrow minded and ignorant view of all this is sickening. First off, do you know their reasons for switching to Windows? Maybe they're using a stripped down version of Windows or for some reason production costs will be less. If you do know these answers you didn't put them in your article, instead you just ranted like a crazy fundamentalist. It sounds like they might also be sick of the fundamentalist base of open-sourcers who have a near religious extremism in justifying some of they're shitty software.

To be fair, I like linux, I've used it in the past. In fact I try to use open-source software whenever possible. But I'm sick and tired of the reactionary open-source base acting as if if you use something closed source you're less pure and that you should use open-source software even if it's not as functional and at points doesn't even work the way you need it to. Maybe OLPC has found a way to make them cheaper, maybe Windows is subsidizing something.

Next time try to be a journalist. Remember, journalists report the facts, even in their editorials they try to remain somewhat unbiased. This article reads more like a high school geeks blog (or worse, a high school geeks tabloid).

Fundamentalism - how very diplomatic.

I contemplated making the move to Linux a while ago and in my pre-move research I was astounded by the utter contempt demonstrated by the so-called Linux community, on their associated "support" forums, towards every poor sod who dared to ask a simple question without first obtaining a degree in Linux-ology.

Feckin' Source Nazis.

Hey Linux Community.
Repeat after me:

"Linux is not a religion"