Windows XP on OLPC?

I think everyone can agree that the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) has become a pretty big flop. Don't get me wrong, the idea behind it is great, get every kid in a developing (and perhaps a developed) country a laptop.

This has so many great implications, some being that perhaps these under privileged kids will have a chance to get their hands on an a computer so they can use it to learn and to play and have fun. Thus (in theory) as a society, we get better. Now these laptops, by no means, are the top of the line computers. No, they were designed to be run on as little power as necessary. You can see here for a detailed break down of the hardware inside the OLPC, but in a nutshell, it's a low power process, a SSD drive, some ram and a few built in peripherals (camera, wifi, etc).

The OS that was originally shipped with the OLPC was a version of Linux (based on Fedora 5, with an interface called Sugar), and you can download images of it and play with it yourself. The cost for all this? $100USD. Super cheap, FUNCTIONAL computer that runs Linux, awesome. Putting a laptop in every kids hands, and spreading the good word of Linux.

Now, Microsoft in their infinite wisdom, didn't like this, as it would be exposing Linux (their competitor) to a previously, untapped market. No Microsoft wants a piece of that market (as much as they can get their dirty hands on so they can spread the word of Windows). They have been trying to get the OLPC to run Windows for a while, but in all justification, with Microsoft's ridiculous licensing fees, would have brought that nice $100 price point to a much larger price point. So Microsoft partnered with another company (I forget which) to produce their on "ultra-low cost laptop".

This all happened right around the time when Asus released their eeePC. The eeePC is an engineering marvel, a truly spectacular piece of machinery. Low power, light in the pocket, runs Linux and is hackable. Some mods for the eeePC allow you to put Windows XP on it, and I remember reading somewhere you can buy the eeePC with Windows already on it (Note: not sure how reliable this is, so don't take my word for it, Google will know). The price for the eeePC? More than the OLPC, anywhere from $200 to $400 depending on model.

Currently, for the super small ultra-portable market, the eeePC is owning the market. The OLPC plan is you pay $200 and you get one OLPC for yourself, and one goes to a child. Still and awesome idea, but it hasn't taken off as much as the eeePC has.

Now Microsft has partnered with OLPC to bring the OLPC with Windows XP on it. Is this a good thing? I, personally, don't think so. Why? Well as of this year (2008), Microsoft will stop selling XP at the end of June. But they have stated that stripped versions of XP are allowed to be sold and installed on low power, low cost portable devices, and there are restrictions that classify a "low power, low cost portable device".

Will OLPC's move from Linux to Windows help revamp the project? I don't think so. The idea was sound and awesome, but for whatever reason, the OLPC project didn't get the return it had hoped for.