Nicholas Negroponte,
Windows 7 Download, the head of the One Laptop computer Per Kid (OLPC) is speaking for Microsoft (once more).Negroponte was quoted by Computerworld as saying Microsoft is functioning together with the OLPC staff on a dual-boot Windows XP/Linux XO laptop computer.Microsoft officials have not publicly acknowledged any such strategies. All Microsoft officials have stated is the fact that they're nonetheless trying to figure out whether XP will operate around the OLPC XO techniques. Subject exams of XP-based OLPCs had been set to begin this month (January 2008),
Office Enterprise 2007, last everyone heard.I;ve asked Microsoft whether or not they've made the decision to support a dual-boot Windows/Linux configuration as participants in the OLPC initiative. No word back but from the Redmondians.Update: Microsoft issued a statement late on January nine denying that dual-boot XP/Linux laptops are on its agenda. Negroponte;s statements from CES this week elevate a number of concerns over and above whether Microsoft has bestowed its blessing on dual-boot XO laptops.Very first: Why would anybody — kids,
Windows 7 Ultimate Key, governments and/or laptop makers — want a dual-boot Linux/Windows OLPC systems in the initial place? Dual-boot Macs make sense: There are some Windows-only programs that Mac users want/need to run. But this scenario doesn;t make sense for the kinds of apps that XO laptops will be geared to run.Next: Will XO laptops even have enough horsepower to dual-boot Windows and Linux? Add some third-party apps on top of two working programs and it sure sounds like a slow,
Windows 7 Ultimate Key, kludgey mess to me.Negroponte;s also gone on record declaring that he programs to introduce an OLPC for the U.S. market. Will these machines also be dual-boot XP/Linux techniques? I;d think Microsoft;s OEM and system builder partners might have some qualms about Microsoft backing a low-end XP-based PC that could cut into demand for their other (Vista) programs here in the U.S.Sure,
Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise, a dual-boot Windows/Linux OLPC would end the debate as to regardless of whether Windows or Linux OLPCs will have extra appeal in developing nations. But would this sort of a machine be anything more than an unnecessary compromise? What;s your take?