OLPC Set To Dump x86 For Arm Chips In XO 2

Posted by timothy on Thursday March 12, 2009 @06:36AM from the just-make-it-faster dept.

angry tapir writes with this excerpt from Good Gear Guide: "One Laptop Per Child is set to dump x86 processors, instead opting to put low-power Arm-based processors in its next-generation XO-2 laptop with the aim of improving battery life. The nonprofit is 'almost' committed to putting the Arm-based chip in the next-generation XO-2 laptop, which is due for release in 18 months, according to Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of OLPC. The XO-1 laptop currently ships with Advanced Micro Devices' aging Geode chip, which is based on an x86 design."

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Re:Time for OS X by Choad+Namath · 2009-03-12 07:26 · Score: 1, Redundant

Since it is a well-known fact that Apple has had OS X working on an ARM architecture in the iPhone and iPod Touch for nearly 2 years now, it would seem a no-brainer at this point for OLPC to take Apple up on their offer.
OS X doesn't run on ARM any more than Windows XP does. The OS on the iPhone may share code or features with the desktop version, but it's not the same OS, and it's highly tailored to the iPhone hardware. Adapting it to work on an OLPC wouldn't be the same task as installing OS X on an x86 computer.