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?"

Comments

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.

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, 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.