Emulating the XO/Quick Start
This page will help you get a look at the XO software, by running a "virtual XO" in an emulator. Another option is burning a LiveCd instead.
What to expect
This "virtual XO" was created as a software development tool. It is not intended for general use, and many things will not work. It is "just to get a taste" (and to help software developers). With time and people constraints, we are focused tightly on the real XO.
- Collaboration, the centerpiece of OLPC, is currently not easily set up in emulation. Sorry.
- The camera and video will not work. Perhaps not even sound.
- Things are slower than on the actual machine. If you are unable to install qemu's kqemu accelerator, very much slower.
- You will see a snapshot of the past. The instructions will have you download the "latest stable build", which is sometimes quite a few weeks old. Development is very rapid. So things will be missing or different compared with the present.
- While rapidly maturing, this is still "alpha" software.
Two steps
First, download olpc-redhat-stream-development-ext3.img.bz2. It is in this directory.
Second, get the qemu emulator which will run the image:
You should now have a running "virtual XO".
Running for the first time
Sugar Instructions will help you get oriented. Though you may not need it.
