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It’s hardly a scientific test, but when a Cnet editor’s 8 year old daughter was given the choice between an OLPC XO laptop running Windows XP or the Linux-based Sugar UI, Sugar was the winner. As Cnet points out, either OS when properly incorporated into the teaching curriculum should serve the children of developing nations equally well. Only one, however, promises to prepare our youth for middle management.

P.S. Amazon’s Give One, Get One program will be limited to Linux according to Cnet and confirmed in the OLPC Wiki — no dual-boot for you Santa.

[Thanks, Justin G.]

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We knew we’d be seeing a comeback of the Give One, Get One program this year, and now OLPC has confirmed a November 17 date — just in time for the holidays, how convenient for everyone! We’re still not certain on a price, but $399 is quite likely. It’s not like they’re doing the volume right now to drive those costs down, and the component-reduced XO 1.5, which is supposed to actually get close to hitting OLPC’s $100 laptop goals, won’t be landing until next spring. Dual-booting to XP is still unconfirmed.

[Thanks, Charbax]

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The long wait is up, and Peru is first in line to receive the new Windows flavored XO through the OLPC program. Though not as cute as the bubbly Sugar interface, it will pack more of a real world punch where apps are concerned — each XO is fitted out with an assortment of MS goodies, including Office 2003 and Learning Essentials 1.0 for Office, served on a bed of XP Pro. Now before you get all teary eyed, keep in mind that Sugar lives on, and there’s an emulator out there with your name on it.

[Thanks, Patrick]

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Now that OLPC has met its One Laptop Per Child goal (in uh, Niue) it’s time to go whole-hog retail. According to Matt Keller, OLPC chief in EMEA, OLPC will resurrect its Give One, Get One XO program in late November with the help of Amazon’s big retail guns. Prices haven’t been disclosed nor has the nimble Sugar or poky XP OS selection. But if history serves, we’ll be looking at $399 for the Sugary pair just like last year.

Update: As it turns out, OLPC says that a dual-boot XP and Sugar OS XO will be shipping in the “next month of so.” Happy pappie?

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Here’s the surprise of the century: Windows XP runs excruciatingly slowly on the OLPC XO. We’re shocked, simply shocked. The folks at Laptop Mag got to kick the tires on this fruit of the XO and Microsoft partnership, and while to their credit they’ve manage to build a computer that works and runs real-world applications, it’s not a pretty sight. Sure, most of the hardware is (or will be) supported just fine, though Sugar’s mesh networking is absent, but boot time off of the 4GB SD card is 1 minute and 24 seconds, and once booted into XP you don’t have access to the data on the XO’s 1GB of internal storage. Internet Explorer 6 took a mere 5 seconds to start, but Word 2003 takes 42 seconds of thumb twiddling. Even more disconcerting is that the system is pretty much locked to running one app at a time, since things just get too sluggish after that. The upshot of this is that the OLPC folks are considering a new edition of the original machine with more RAM and a new processor, but we certainly feel sorry for kids to who this existing machine will be their first taste of computing. Well, only a little bit. Back in our day…

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Just when it looked like OLPC was finally getting at least one foot firmly grounded in reality with the upcoming Windows XP version of its low-priced XO, Nick Neg takes things back into the stratosphere with the unveiling of the XO 2.0. Due in 2010, the new laptop will employ dual sunlight-readable touchscreen displays in a smaller, folding e-book form factor. Sure, it looks totally amazing, but we’ll believe it when we see it. As if that weren’t ambitious enough, Nick calls a $20 pricepoint per display not out of the question, thanks to the ubiquity of LCD screens for DVD players, with a final laptop price of $75. Sure Nick, but 2010? Let’s work on getting the XO down to $100 first, shall we? Oh, and speaking of the XO, the Give 1 Get 1 program will be started back up in August or September of this year. There’s just never a dull moment with these folks.

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While OLPC tries to wise up to the real demands of the market and build a cheap laptop that people actually want — which means Windows XP for most — Walter Bender, OLPC’s former president of software and content for the project is taking his open source Linux-based Sugar OS and has started up a new non-profit to aid its development. Bender still has the vision of an open source learning OS, and plans to give Sugar full support for other low-cost platforms like the Eee PC. Ooh, burn.

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It’s been a controversial decision, but it looks like the OLPC XO has completed its transition from revolutionary education project to just another tiny Windows laptop with a useless keyboard — albeit one with a pleasantly whimsical design. Yep, it’s official: Microsoft and OLPC just put out a joint press release saying that XP-loaded XOs will be available starting in August or September, with some countries to get the machines as soon as next month. Users will get all the regular functionality of XP — it’s basically the same build as on the Eee and other ultraportables — but Microsoft’s spent over a year developing specialized drivers for the XO’s various features like e-book mode, the writing pad, and camera. (We’re pretty certain that doesn’t include mesh networking, but WiFi is supported.) XP is too big for the built-in 1GB flash chip, so it’ll come preloaded on a 2GB SD card, leaving just about 1.5GB free total for apps and media. It seems like Microsoft is thrilled about this partnership, but it’s a not going to make NickNeg’s search for new vision at the top any easier. As for Sugar? You’ll still be able to get it, but we have a sinking feeling about its future. Demo video after the break.

Continue reading OLPC XO officially gets Windows XP, children of the world to be assimilated

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The OLPC XO — it’s all rainbows, hugging, and laser beams of learning, right? Maybe not, kind reader. Apparently, users of the the diminutive, educationally themed laptop are experiencing a rash of “stuck key” issues which are causing tons of headaches (and possibly some heartbreak as well). It seems that keys are becoming stuck in activated positions, and / or are being triggered by key presses nearby. The company is aware of the problem, but can’t pinpoint a single cause, as the components are made by a variety of manufacturers. For now OLPC is asking customers to RMA the laptops so they ca get the repairs they so desperately need, though we’re not sure how this is going to play out in the developing areas where the XOs are being rolled out. Well, they can probably just take them to the hospital.

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Filed under: Laptops

It’s safe to assume that if you’re using one of OLPC’s XO laptops, you’re not exactly a speed demon. Still, you probably wouldn’t mind squeezing a little more power out of that innocuous Geode CPU — and now there’s a way to do it. The cats and kittens over at OLPC News have discovered a way to (relatively) safely overclock your system using a shortcut at the open firmware prompt. At least one reader reports a 21.8 percent boost in system speed, and claims that bumping the 433MHz processor to 588MHz, and the 166MHz RAM to 233MHz has resulted in a much smoother ride with Ubuntu. Of course, if you decide to try this, keep in mind that just like overclocking the big boys, you could explode your system, restart the Cold War, or attract tons of vampires.

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During the recent Greener Gadgets Conference in New York, former OLPC CTO (and XO challenger) Mary Lou Jepsen discussed the real-world difficulties with using the kid-friendly laptops, including the creation of an XO “hospital” used to repair broken computers. Apparently, in the crowded conditions of schools in places like Nigeria, the little green laptops have a tendency to be jostled around and even knocked on the floor from time to time. As there’s typically no repair shops nearby, the kids have learned to fix the systems themselves, setting up a “laptop hospital” where they can repair what’s broken using simple tools and cheap replacement parts. Mary Lou says the company designed the systems to be easily fixable, including extra screws embedded in the computers themselves, and allowing for quick changes of the LCD backlight and other components. The in-house repairs cut down on shipping, promote reuse, and increase kids’ understanding of ownership and responsibility, thus furthering the OLPC mission, and making everyone generally want to hug.

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We knew we were in for some rough chuckles when Birmingham, Alabama signed up to provide an OLPC XO to every K-8 student last December, but we didn’t think they’d be this silly from the get-go: apparently the mayor’s office, which negotiated the deal, is now saying the school board needs to add WiFi to every school for the laptops to work. That’s news to us — the mesh-networking XO was designed to be used in rural parts of the developing world, after all — but we’re still puzzling out what mayoral advisors John Katopodis and Bob McKenna meant when they said they’re “trying to make the whole city WiFi,” or where they got a quote of $39 per school to enable wireless access. Of course, the only response from the school board was one member who worried about students accessing porn — which seems to be a real theme with the XO — but for some reason we’re not at all surprised that bureaucratic officials have totally missed the point of the OLPC project.

[Thanks, Jay]

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Proving once again that he’s still got love for the home team, Nick Negroponte has announced the impending launch of OLPC America, a division of the organization with its own director and chairman that will bring low-cost laptops to US students. According to an IDG interview with Negroponte, distributing the XO stateside has always been in the plans, arguing that “to have the United States be the only country that’s not in the OLPC agenda would be kind of ridiculous.” Besides helping out kids at home, NickNeg anticipates that a domestic deployment will accelerate the project to critical mass in terms of adoption, software, and developer support. OLPC America will reportedly work with individual state governments to handle the details of the disbursement, although specifics of the plan will remain under wraps until the official launch later this year.

[Via Slashdot]

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Those of you who participated in OLPC’s “Give One, Get One” program will probably be disappointed to learn that, despite earlier reports to the contrary, Microsoft has no intention of developing dual-boot Windows / Linux support for the XO laptop. According to a statement sent to BetaNews, Redmond flat out denied any work on such a project, instead claiming that it “plans to publish formal design guidelines early this year that will assist [any] flash-based device manufacturers in designing machines that enable a high-quality Windows experience.” The blurb goes on to say that the company will be conducting limited XP-on-XO field tests later this month, although BetaNews notes that notebook’s hardware limitations have proven problematic for the software giant, which may be forced to offer the OS on an SD card — a move that would require a new BIOS for the XO to enable booting from removable storage.

[Via Slashdot]

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Well, it looks like that Nigerian keyboard patent infringement case against OLPC is underway, and it hasn’t started out too well for Nick Neg and co.: the court has granted LANCOR’s motion for an interim injunction against OLPC, meaning the XO can’t be imported or sold in Nigeria. On top of that, LANCOR is now asking for $20M in damages, and has been searching the offices of OLPC-affiliated organizations in Nigeria for “evidence.” All of this currently going down with zero input from OLPC’s lawyers, but we’re told the organization is preparing an “aggressive” response. Check the read link for an exhaustive summary of the case to date over at Groklaw.

[Via CNet]

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Don’t adjust your screens folks, as this actually isn’t a year-end case of déjà vu. Rather, we’re looking to give you an(other) imaginary shot at tweaking the OLPC XO now that it has moved beyond the initiative phase and been productized for the general consumer. In case you’ve been parked squarely under a rock for the last few months, you should know that the XO’s journey through production has been quite a lengthy one, and while a few countries have made substantial bulk purchases to inject these machines into their respective school systems, we’re interested in seeing how the average joe / jane located in a developed nation sees things.

Needless to say, One Laptop Per Child’s “Give One, Get One” program has been quite the success, and by now, we’re confident that some of you have already received your own. ‘Course, we’re sure there’s at least a few of you that chose this over that other low-cost laptop (and many that chose it over this), and we’re curious to know how you’d improve the newly commercialized XO now that it actually has a rival. Yeah, we too would love an even skimpier price tag, but beyond that, what hardware / software changes would you like to see on the next version? Could you stand to have a few more megabytes of RAM? Still yearning for dual-boot capability out of the box? How’s about a design scheme that doesn’t involve opaque white and bright green? As stated, we’re well aware that these things weren’t designed with LAN partiers in mind, but now that NickNeg is offering ‘em up to these very citizens — not to mention every other type of user in North America — why not toss out a few suggestions for making it more suitable for you?

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Something doesn’t add up. Either the Economic Daily News has bad manufacturing numbers or OLPC’s claims of $2 Million worth of “donations” each day (more than 10,000 XOs per day!) under the $399 G1G1 program are highly exaggerated. The Chinese-language report says that Quanta expects to ship 15,000 XOs in all of December and only around 8-10k units each month into the future. This according to the paper’s “component maker” sources. Of course, OLPC could be multi-sourcing laptops from Foxconn, Compal, or some other Guangdong Province factory — though that would be news to us. Regardless, with 15,000 XOs heading to Alabama, 260,000 heading to Peru, and countless others in the queue from G1G1, well, our children might be waiting a long, long time for delivery.

Update: According to reader Hao, DigiTimes incorrectly translated the production quantity. EDN is reporting 150,000 XOs shipping in December, then 80k to 100k each month thereafter. That certainly sounds more reasonable. Here’s the EDN piece. Thanks Hao!

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Laptops

Something doesn’t add up. Either the Economic Daily News has bad manufacturing numbers or OLPC’s claims of $2 Million worth of “donations” each day (more than 10,000 XOs per day!) under the $399 G1G1 program are highly exaggerated. The Chinese-language report says that Quanta expects to ship 15,000 XOs in all of December and only around 8-10k units each month into the future. This according to the paper’s “component maker” sources. Of course, OLPC could be multi-sourcing laptops from Foxconn, Compal, or some other Guangdong Province factory — though that would be news to us. Regardless, with 15,000 XOs heading to Alabama, 260,000 heading to Peru, and countless others in the queue from G1G1, well, our children might be waiting a long, long time for delivery.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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At the nexus of selfishness and altruism sits the OLPC Give One, Get One program. Today marks the first day of shipping for those of you who placed a G1G1 order during the program’s November 12th launch date. Each XO ships with new OLPC Ship.2 Build (650) software which introduces a network-based OLPC-update and more robust wireless networking in addition to the same (great) Sugar UI and easy-to-use application suite we’ve seen. They’ll also arrive touting the latest Q2D07 firmware which fixes a critical bug bricking some XOs in manufacturing. As noted earlier, these units should arrive before Christmas while the second XO heads to less-fortunates in early 2008. As it should be, eh you greedy/selfless bastage.

[Via OLPC News, thanks Wayan]

Read — OLPC Ship.2 release notes
Read — OLPC G1G1 shipping

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Don’t fret, that feeling you’ve just been overcome with is nothing more than a harmless dose of déjà vu. Nearly a year ago to the day, we were hearing these same types of talks, and while the whole “XP on XO” conversation has been one of on-again / off-again nature, the switch has apparently been flipped to “go” once more. According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is slated to test out Windows XP on OLPC XO laptops starting next month in the US, India and possibly Romania. James Utzschneider, general manager of Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential Group, noted that it “wanted Windows to run on the XO and [that it was] investing significant energy and talent” to make sure it happened. Granted, Microsoft will have to be mighty pleased with the results before any of this goes commercial, as Mr. Utzschneider concluded by stating that the company “wants to [ensure] a quality experience before [making a] commitment to governments.”

[Via PCWorld]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!