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Microsoft Wants OLPC System to Run Windows XP
Stony Stevenson passed us a link to an IT News story about Microsoft's recent request that the folks behind the XO laptop redesign it to suit their needs. The company now wants to be able to run Windows XP on the highly-publicized and inexpensive portable. "Microsoft general manager ... Utzschneider says a shrunken version of Windows XP could potentially run on 2 Gbytes of flash memory. The XO, however, can only hold 1 Gbyte. As a result, Microsoft wants the XO's designers to add a slot through which more memory can be added via a secure digital (SD) card, Utzschneider said. Microsoft's renewed interest in participating in OLPC might be viewed by skeptics as an admission that a rival offering for developing markets called Classmate — which uses an Intel processor on Microsoft software — has failed to catch on."
patented slashdot slapdown, and I will attempt to deliver my best shot:
So what M$ is saying that if you upgrade the hardware you can get a downgraded XP? That's nice.. "we're not petty or anything, but we'd rather see less laptops in the hands of children in developing countries than have them using Linux".
Well, between the Classmate going downhill and Linux being free, the only one looking to make a buck are the chair manufacturers.
Except - the children can't use their laptops on their own terms. They can only use them within the framework dictated by fiat from OLPC. They have no choice as to which family of OS's to run. The XO comes with exactly one hardware configuration, and isn't compatible with stock PC expansions... So, no customization there either. The XO runs Linux, so software written for Windows (including educational software) is unavailable to them as well. Etc... Etc...
If it was Microsoft writing such marketdroid bilge -
Double standards FTW.
Speak for yourself. Linux is great for some stuff, but the thought of giving up .NET/VS2005 for developing Enterprise Applications and using Linux makes me want to poke myself in the eye with something hot. Hot and sharp. And I've developed lots of UNIX code in a variety of languages.
The funniest thing about you Linux/FOSS dweebs is you have no idea what's going on on the other side of the fence, but you're just _convinced_ your little Perl, Ruby/Rails, PHP, or whatever the "hot" stuff is in FOSS is super-high-tech and Windows people are developing apps in VBA or something. It's hilarious.
What, does the word zealot not appear in your mental dictionary?
"One who espouses a cause or pursues an object in an immoderately partisan manner."
That's a good definition, and definitely appropriate.
"It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Peak Performance