Microsoft Eyes Laptops for Poor Children

Microsoft Corp. hopes to develop a version of a $3 Windows software suite to run on low-cost laptops that a Massachusetts foundation wants to send to the world’s poorest children.

The software, designed for youngsters in developing nations, is being tested on prototypes of small green-and-white laptops developed by the One Laptop Per Child Foundation, Microsoft corporate vice president Will Poole said on Friday.

The non-profit project plans to start mass production in September of the so-called “XO” machines. They were designed specifically by the foundation to run on the Linux operating system and other open-source programs.

Linux is the main rival to Microsoft’s Windows operating system. If the machines run only Linux, Microsoft will lose out on an opportunity to eventually expose tens of millions of children worldwide to its Windows system.

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One Laptop Per Child, founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist Nicholas Negroponte, is selling them at $176 apiece to governments, which will then distribute them to poor children.

Some governments have urged Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, to equip those machines with Windows software instead of Linux and other programs developed by the foundation, Poole told Reuters.

“They’re coming to us and saying, ‘Hey. If we buy these very nice, low-cost laptops, can you give us a version of Windows and Office … Can you make that available for that nice bit of hardware’,” Poole said. “Our answer is ‘maybe’.”

A key reason for their interest is that some teachers and school administrators already use laptops with Windows and they want to stick with familiar software, Poole said.

The XO features a string pulley to charge its battery, a keyboard that switches between languages, a digital video camera and wireless connectivity.

It requires just 2 watts of power compared to the typical laptop’s 30 to 40 watts, and does away with hard drives, relying instead on flash memory and four USB ports to add memory devices. A minute of yanking on the pulley generates 10 minutes of electricity.
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If running the XO machines on Windows were to become an option, they would be equipped with Microsoft’s Student Innovation Suite - a $3 suite that the software giant’s founder, Bill Gates, unveiled last month in Beijing.

It includes a stripped-down version of Windows XP known as Windows XP Starter Edition, along with a word processor, e-mail program and spreadsheet as well as educational software.

Making the XO compatible with Windows requires development of about 10 software drivers for the laptop’s hardware, Poole said.

Work on a possible Windows software suite for the XO cannot be completed until the One Laptop Per Child Foundation finalizes the hardware specifications of the model that will go into production in September, he said.

“They’re still updating things and changing things,” he said.

Once the product’s specifications are finalized, Microsoft will seek to adapt its software to run on the system, then test it out to see how it performs on the machine.

It the machine isn’t robust enough to run Windows, Microsoft won’t go ahead and develop its software for the XO, Poole said.

“We have to look at the end experience. If the student is going to turn on the thing and love it, then that’s really what we are focused on,” he said.

The XO laptop is made with components from hardware makers including Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Marvell Technology Group Ltd.

Software maker Red Hat Inc helped develop the device. Quanta Computer Inc. will manufacture it.