One day after the resignation of the One Laptop Per Child's president was publicly revealed, the educational project's founder and chairman says the group's XO laptop may evolve to use only Windows XP as the operating system, with open-source educational apps such as its home-built Sugar running on top.
OLPC's founder Nicholas Negroponte also told the Associated Press on Tuesday that an insistence upon using only free, open-source software had hampered the XO's usability and scared away potential adopters.
For instance, the Sugar graphical user interface aimed at children "grew amorphously" and "didn't have a software architect who did it in a crisp way," he said. Also, the laptops do not support the latest versions of Flash animation, which is widely used on children's and educational Web sites.
"There are several examples like that, that we have to address without worrying about the fundamentalism in some of the open-source community," he said. "One can be an open-source advocate without being an open-source fundamentalist."
Negroponte also said that the dual-boot version of the XO that can run Windows or Linux will soon be ready. He had already revealed in January that the group was working with Microsoft on a dual-boot version of the XO.
The admission that the XO laptop might eventually run completely on Windows, however, will further dishearten many of the non-profit's strongest supporters. They viewed the OLPC and its championing of free, open-source software for ideological and cost reasons as way to challenge Microsoft's dominance.
But the OLPC's moves could also make the XO more attractive to adopters, both educators as well as affluent Western consumers buying XOs for themselves or their children.
About 500,000 of the XO laptops have been sold, below previous targets of millions by the end of last year. Due to the lower-than-anticipated volume, the XOs have been sold for about US$200 each, or double its ambitious initial price target of US$100 each.
Moving to Windows could also remove the barriers put up by both Microsoft and Intel, which offers the competing Windows-based Classmate PC.
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Computerworld Live Podcast #97: The Future of Enterprise Networking 25/07/2008 09:45:36
This week CW Live chats with Mark Thompson, global sales and marketing manager for HP ProCurve, on the future of the enterprise networking. Mark discusses the trends we can expect to see in the near future and how the right infrastructure can ensure your enterprise network is secure. - +
Computerworld Live Podcast #96: Security at the Edge 11/06/2008 09:22:22
CW Live speaks with Amol Mitra, HP ProCurve Director of Marketing for Asia Pacific and Japan. Today's topic: how enterprises are starting to shift away from simply controlling security via server logins, firewalls and moving to more adaptive security frameworks. - +
Data Management Edition #10: Multi-Petascale Systems 02/05/2008 09:12:33
This week we look at sustainability and the development of multicore technologies to build multi-petascale systems. - +
IT Security Edition #11: How to poison the Storm botnet 01/05/2008 08:51:55
This week CW Live presents a case study on how to poison the notorious Storm botnet . Plus we take a look at Cisco's plans for Ironport. - +
IT Security Edition #10: Cyber-battles fought and won 24/04/2008 11:09:47
Vendors bow to end user pressure to improve product security, and we take a look at the latest concepts shaping the cyber-battlefield of the future.
F-Secure: Growth In Internet Crime Calls For Growth In Punishment 2008-12-05 13:00:00+11
International researchers gather in Sydney to preview the clever web 2008-12-05 09:48:00+11
Borderless corporate networks to shift focus to secure content management in Australia in 2009 2008-12-04 16:06:00+11
IDC Says Asia/Pacific Excluding Japan IT Market Will Remain The Bright Spot... 2008-12-04 15:04:00+11
MySpot SOS "Panic Button" Smartphone Application could save lone worker lives 2008-12-04 13:34:00+11
Data grids and service-oriented architecture
When choosing an SOA strategy, corporations must ensure data availability, reliability, performance and scalability. A data grid infrastructure, built with clustered caching provides a framework for improved data access that can create a competitive edge and sustain customer loyalty. Read on to discover how this can be created within your organisation.
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