Microsoft's XO Laptop Strategy

gbulmash writes "Microsoft is spending a 'non-trivial' amount of money to get Windows XP working on the OLPC project's XO laptop. But why? Despite the conjecture that the Linux-based XO could convince millions of people in the developing world that they don't need Windows and build a huge base of developers for Linux, there still remains the question of how Microsoft would convince owners of XO laptops to buy and install Windows XP over the functional Linux-based OS already on it. It's doubtful that Microsoft could encourage or coerce Negroponte to put XP on the machine, so whose arms will they twist?"

Re:Oxymoron

[jimstapleton]

(1) AFAIK, the 360 doesn't run Windows.

(2) The 90s called, they want their Windows back. Seriously, Win2K and later only have stability problems with bad hardware and bad drives. The former will cause issues with ANY os, and the latter with many (including Linux, sorry)

(3) The OLPC is not intended to be a server or always on, your criticism is based on an extremely flawed presumption.

Re:But think of the advantages

[jimstapleton]

I get 419 scam emails on my BSD machine all the time...

I don't think the presence of Windows affects that...

Re:Oxymoron

[SEMW]

"I am honestly not sure where the Win2K misperception comes from, but Xbox runs a custom operating system built from the ground up."

Source: XBox team official MSDN Blog [msdn.com].

Re:I can't wait

[griffjon]

Remember MS has already created a program (Unlimited Potential) to sell XP (sans Office) for $3/pop to government programs in developing countries. OLPCNews covered this before [olpcnews.com], during the last MS on XO scare.

It doesn't fully emulate HE

[curri]

That emulates OS, not all specific HW, so there may be (is?) a way for WinXP to distinguish from real HW, especially from XO HW. For example, VMWare will NOT run inside another VMWare VM.