Over the past few months we’ve heard inklings that Microsoft was in talks with the OLPC project to test Windows XP on the low-cost XO laptop. Now the New York Times is reporting that the OLPC organization will rollout a limited trial of Windows XP in four or five countries next month. If things go well, we could see a wider release by Septemeber.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to pick up a $200 laptop running Windows XP at your local Best Buy anytime soon. The primary markets for the XO laptop are developing nations where computers are expensive and hard to come by.

The OLPC team doesn’t plan to stop offering Linux based computers. But the deal with Microsoft might make the XO more attractive to some nations and educational purchasers who had balked at the idea of paying for computers that didn’t run Windows, still the dominant desktop operating system in most of the world.

The Windows license will add $3 to the price of the machines, and the extra hardware required to dual boot both Windows and Linux will add another $7.

Update: CNET reports that the Sugar team hopes to port the software to run on different computers. One of the first targets: The Asus Eee PC.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,543 other subscribers

One reply on “It’s official: OLPC XO Laptop to run Windows”

Comments are closed.