14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is showing Linux little love, as it doesn't want it booting alongside Windows on XO laptops. The fact of the matter is that the Redmond company did indeed jump aboard the One Laptop Per Child initiative. No less true is that Microsoft is currently pouring a consistent amount of effort into making Windows XP fit onto XO. James Utzschneider, general manager, Product Marketing, Business Solutions Group, explained at the beginning of December 2007 that Microsoft still had to surpass some hardware impediments before it would be able to offer XP on the OLPC XO computer. Utzschneider has estimated that, with a workforce of more than 40 engineers hammering away at Windows XP in order to tailor it on the XO laptop, a production-quality release is planned by mid 2008.
At the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, debuted at the start of this week, Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of the One Laptop Per Child initiative, jumped the gun on Microsoft and announced that OLPC was working with the Redmond company to build a dual-boot system that would permit Windows and the Fedora distribution of Linux to boot alongside one another on XO. "We are working with them very closely to make a dual-boot system so that, like on an Apple, you can boot either one up. The version that's up and running of Windows on the XO is very fast, it's very, very successful. We're working very hard to do both", Nicholas Negroponte was quoted by ComputerWorld.
Negroponte's statement was also confirmed by SeattlePI, but the note differed entirely, the scenario being presented as a tentative rather than a sure thing. And it appears that Negroponte's words were somewhat interpreted, as Microsoft has denied the fact that it is working with OLPC in order to set up Windows/Linux XO machines in dual-boot configuration. Ahead of CES 2008, OLPC has lost the support of chip maker Intel, and it seems that the initiative is also right on track to alienating Microsoft from the project.
"While we have investigated the possibility in the past, Microsoft is not developing dual-boot Windows XP support for One Laptop Per Child's XO laptop", a Microsoft representative told Mary Jo Foley. "As we announced in December, Microsoft plans to publish formal design guidelines early this year that will assist flash-based device manufacturers in designing machines that enable a high-quality Windows experience. Our current goal remains to provide a high-quality Windows experience on the XO device. In addition, there will be limited field trials in January 2008 of Windows XP for One Laptop per Child's XO laptop. Microsoft recommends contacting the company directly for any further updates."