Nobody at OLPC working on Windows: sorry kids

Yes, we know you impoverished children of the world would love nothing more than the opportunity to get some hands-on experience with Windows, providing you with a valuable skillset for a Windows-based world, but the OLPC project sure isn't going to help you in that quest. "We are a free and open-source shop." Says OLPC's Walter Bender, president of Software and Content, rebutting some of the conjecture surrounding Nick Neg's Windows-related statement last week. "We have no one from OLPC working with Microsoft on developing a Windows platform for the XO. MS doesn't get any special treatment from OLPC." It has been confirmed that Microsoft is developing for the XO, but OLPC hasn't contacted Microsoft about including the $3 software bundle with its computers, and claims no governments have approached it about loading Windows on the computers.

[Via Slashdot]

[Derek @ May 3rd 2007 5:37PM]

Bob, you can't get yourself an OLPC. It's "One Laptop Per Child," not "One Laptop Per Grown Man in the Western World (OLPGMWW)." Not quite as catchy, is it?

OLPC is intended for, and will solely be sold to, governments who are going to be distributing these to young children in their respective countries. The only way YOU might get your hands on one is to work for one of these governments (India, Brazil, South Africa, et al).

[Todd @ May 3rd 2007 12:18PM]

For some reason, when I read this post's slug line, I heard it in my head as being read by Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons...

( Comic Book Guy voice )"...No one is working on Windows for the OLPC. Thank you."

[Chris @ May 3rd 2007 12:41PM]

slug line?

[segaprophet @ May 3rd 2007 12:56PM]

Honestly, who really cares? With Linux eating away at the Windows hegemony from one side and Apple squeezing from the other, Microsoft really won't be around long enough to commit many more mistakes of a Vista like scale.

Sorry Microsoft, you had your turn, the future will be ruled by GNU/Linux and Unix technology.

[mattbrown @ May 3rd 2007 1:05PM]

"Sorry Microsoft, you had your turn, the future will be ruled by GNU/Linux and Unix technology."

Wow, talk about blinding one's self to reality. Check out this article:

http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070430/33932_id.html?.v=1

[Laughing @ May 3rd 2007 2:25PM]

For 20 years we've been hearing that some new thing is gonna be the end of Microsoft. New companies with new technology sometimes make slight inroads into Microsoft's market share, but a few years later they are gone or diminished.

I'm betting long with MS.

[Nate @ May 3rd 2007 2:23PM]

@ mattbrown:

That article is comparing apples to not-quite apples. To say that MS makes as much money in 1 day as Red Hat does in 1 Quarter is asinine. *Of Course* a multi-national corporation is going to blow a niche-market company out of the water in quarterly revenues! That doesn't demean the product of the smaller company in any way, shape, or form.

And what revenues is it comparing? If you were to compare MS's net income based solely off of OS sales with Red Hat's, then you've got a better comparison. As it stands, Redmond's billions in revenue is coming in from many different directions: OS, Software, Gaming, Peripherals, etc. Red Hat's revenue is from OS and Support sales.

And for the record: Yes, I use Linux at home, exclusively. No, I don't think Windows/MS is going anywhere anytime soon.

[Nick @ May 3rd 2007 1:34PM]

Im not a Linux guy and I know that there are plenty of free or near free Distros of Linux. So comparing the one and only version/source of Windows to the one of many versions/sources of Linux doesnt really equate. #2 Microsoft profits takes alot more into account than just their Windows product. #3 Microsoft has had a monopoly upon the non Mac buying public, but now you see Dell (stunt or not) preparing to load on Linux as an option. Whether you are willing to admitt it or not Linux and Unix are gaining in popularity among the ever increasing tech-knowledgable public.

[DJ @ May 3rd 2007 3:52PM]

The article mattbrown cites is looking at Microsoft from a fiscal perspective, which is certainly not something Linux should be judged on. Although much of the world's success is based upon profit, judging the success of any operating system should not be based on profit. Instead, it should be judged upon usage. Currently MS has the lead.

[James @ May 3rd 2007 2:17PM]

Unix and Linux certainly are gaining popularity, the same way that Firefox is gaining on Internet Explorer. That will probably be true for a while, but the fact remains that according to W3 IE still enjoys 60% of the market, about double what Firefox is seeing. And there's still piles of software that people are used to, and use at work, or at school, that only have a Windows version. And don't even get me started on games -- Mac has two orders of magnitude fewer commercial games than Windows, and Linux is probably an order of magnitude worse off than Mac. I'm not a fanboy -- I'm not saying it *should* be this way -- but I don't see Microsoft disappearing into the fog any time soon.

[dukeoconnor @ May 5th 2007 10:10AM]

Somehow I missed those predictions of Microsoft's demise over the past 20 years. What I saw for 20 years were predictions of Microsoft extending its monopoly to the Internet and the media, taking out Sony, Apple, Netscape, etc, stories about record profits and the billions it was stockpiling. So after watching Microsoft stock soar year after year, in 2000 I sold my stock in perpetually "beleaguered" Apple and bought Microsoft. Wish I had seen those predictions you're talking about. Of course I do see them now, maybe for good reason. Time will tell.

[ark_v2 @ May 3rd 2007 3:25PM]

After what that idiot Gates said and the attacks to the OLPC this is not surprising. I do think that GNU will get as much popularity as MS in the future, but MS will never disappear of the map.

[Saq @ May 3rd 2007 3:39PM]

How arrogant of them to not want to work with ms to provide third world countries with a version of the most widely used operating system in the world for an extra $3.00

[Tom Haws @ May 3rd 2007 4:39PM]

Yes, there is a hint of fanboy in this article. It's true Microsoft isn't going anywhere, and it's true corporate America runs on MS office today. But Microsoft is already moving off center stage, and submission to today's hottest monopoly is not the path to happiness, health, and peace for these children in 15 years when they are grown.

[Feba @ May 4th 2007 7:56AM]

MS will definitely be around for a long time, but Linux and Mac are are the up and up, especially now that virtual machines and dual booting are becoming more common. Yes, we might still be running Windows, but we're running it sparingly. It's more important to get people using these systems than making mainstream software compatible with it (only really a problem with games and some adobe products). Look at mac, they're what, 5% of the market? They don't have many games, but they do have a section in many stores, they even released Halo on the mac (I know Bungie was originally mac, but still, makes you go wtf.) I have no doubt that thanks to linux being made easier to use by distros such as ubuntu, it will most likely be at least able to compete with Mac OS within ten years, if not have a wider userbase than mac, mainly people just need to hear about things like DSL and Xubuntu/Flexbuntu, being able to run new things on older computers. That and people need to just be more exposed to linux. Hell, I bet if you took a single public airport, changed their internet stalls/net cafes over to linux, you'd see thousands of new Linux users within the year from that alone.

Still, it's way too soon to be singing about the death of microsoft. Kinda like sony, they might be sucking really hard right now, but they're too big to just die like that. Maybe 50 years from now MS will be gone, but I doubt that. MS has too much of the market, too much money to die out, hell, I bet MS has a pile of cash large enough for them to spend the next few centuries running the company into the ground, if they want. It's kinda like predicting the death of the Ford motor company. Not to mention, if linux does become a big deal in mainstream, you can expect to see MS use it's marketing power to try to turn the name to mud. They already have articles on their site talking about how windows is more secure, reliable, and cheaper than linux.

And Engadget, I hope the fanboism in this article is total sarcasm.