MS FAQ

What is the 'announcement' about Microsoft?

OLPC has created one of the most open hardware platforms in the world to complement our development of Sugar on GNU/Linux, open source software. Microsoft engineers have ported Windows XP to the XO, writing drivers to take advantage of the sunlight readable display, the wireless capabilities, the camera and other hardware features. The announcement can be found here: http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/15/technology/microsoft_olpc.fortune/. Information on plans by Microsoft associated with the Unlimited Potential program can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/unlimitedpotential/default.mspx

What is the benefit to OLPC with this Microsoft announcement?

There are only a few ways to get the cost of hardware down to something that is affordable everywhere: One is to raise money to be able to give the laptops away, and the other is to produce in large enough quantities that the cost of parts drops significantly. OLPC is working on both of these fronts. Many of the bids for technology in education require that Microsoft software runs on any laptop or computer for a school system. Getting more XO hardware into the world will significantly lower the cost for the developing countries.

How does Windows XP run on the XO today?

XP requires a 2Gig SD card and proprietary firmware to run on the XO today. OLPC is working on a new version of Open Firmware that will allow either Windows, or Sugar, or both with hardware that can support more flash (see 'Is there a plan for increasing flash?')

How far away is the Dual-Boot solution?

OLPC is working on open firmware to allow for dual boot of Linux and Windows. We expect the development effort to be complete this summer. At that point, with no change in hardware, the XO could be booted as a Linux or Windows system. OLPC will not be selling Windows products, so use Microsoft webpages to find out about availability of Microsoft products.

Is there a plan for increasing flash on the Laptop?

OLPC is working on a 2 Gig flash version of the laptop to accommodate this dual boot capability. The estimated time for availability is this fall. We will continue to produce and sell the more economical version with Sugar and GNU/Linux to meet the needs of many of our deployments.

Can I get Windows for my G1G1 XO?

Not today for a couple of reasons: 1) It isn't a finished product yet, and 2) the XO needs the updated OFW2 with dual boot capability, which will not be available until the end of the summer (no release date yet). Also, Microsoft's Unlimited Potential program is aimed at providing software to countries most in need, not the G1G1 program. OLPC will not be OEM or a Dealer in Microsoft software, so we won't have information on cost and availability of Microsoft products.