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Negroponte Says Windows 'Runs Well' On XO Laptop

Posted by Soulskill on from the set-the-hook-and-reel-them-in dept.

Stony Stevenson alerts us to comments from OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte indicating his approval of Windows' performance on the XO laptop. Negroponte said in an email, "Sugar needs a wider basis, to run on more Linux platforms and to run under Windows." The full email is available at OLPC News. He was also quoted by the Associated Press as saying that Sugar "didn't have a software architect who did it in a crisp way," and cited the lack of Flash as an example. Negroponte continued, "There are several examples like that, that we have to address without worrying about the fundamentalism in some of the open-source community. One can be an open-source advocate without being an open-source fundamentalist."

5 of 339 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Screw Sugar by MadUndergrad · · Score: 5, Informative

    Well, first off for such a bland-looking GUI, it's certainly slow. Xubuntu on the same hardware runs a good bit faster than Sugar/fedora. The wifi neighborhood view is nice, except that when WPA doesn't work you're left out in the cold. Once they fix the WPA issues that'll be satisfactory. The activities are ok, though the activity frame can get annoying when you accidentally hit a corner with the cursor and make it pop up.

    The biggest problem is the Journal. Personally I find it far more confusing than a hierarchical file system. More often than not I find myself using the terminal which, by the way, doesn't seem to allow copy and paste.

    A conventional computer isn't hard to figure out, even for the very young. Beyond basic functionality, I think sugar will hinder learning more than anything, given how tough it can be to do even very basic things.

  2. Re:Two models by schnikies79 · · Score: 4, Informative

    The problem is the resolution. A standard XP window will not fit and you will loose the bottom buttons or the top buttons/menu.

    The performance is fine. He even plays a few fps games on it.

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    Gone!
  3. Sadly, Negroponte is correct... by nweaver · · Score: 4, Informative

    Flash Player: OLPC FAQ:

    Quote: "Adobe makes the official Flash plugin, but OLPC cannot ship it on the XOs because it is legally restricted and doesn't meet the OLPC's standards for open software. Instead, the XO ships with Gnash, an open source Flash plugin that can play some (but not all) Flash content. As shipped on the XO, it cannot play YouTube videos. Skilled users can rebuild it to include that functionality."

    The Sugar distribution's exclusion of Flash, and only shipping a crippled version of Gnash, is all about open source politics, not technical performance limitations.

    --
    Test your net with Netalyzr
  4. Re:Power Power Power and infrastructure by sayfawa · · Score: 4, Informative

    There are no bushmen in Nairobi. Bushmen are hunter-gatherers in southern Africa. Nairobi is a modern metropolis in east Africa.

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    Free the Quark 3 from asymptotic confinement! Bring your charm! Don't get down! All colours and flavours welcome!
  5. Re:Screw Sugar by grumbel · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's not like the XO is DRM'ed and you can't install anything else. Actually it is DRM'ed. You can't just install anything you want, you have to first get a developer key to unlock it before you can do so, else it will only allow installation of officially signed OLPC stuff and nothing else.