Beyond Binary

On the outside, the Windows version of the XO laptop looks just like the Linux model. But simply booting up the device shows that the Windows version bears little resemblance to the original One Laptop Per Child device.

With the Microsoft version, you get Windows, for all the good and bad that entails. It's full-on Windows--XP Professional, in fact--and can run basically any software that can adjust itself to the mini-laptop's diminutive screen and modest processor.

Microsoft has managed to slim down the OS enough to boot up off a 2GB flash memory card and has written drivers for a number of the XO laptop's unique features, such as its scratch pad, game controller, and built-in camera.

But what's missing in the Windows version is the personality that oozes out of the Linux incarnation. The Linux model comes with an integrated suite of educational games, programming tools, and other software, all built around a kid-friendly OS shell known as Sugar.

The Windows version of the XO doesn't have much of that built-in spunk, although a child-oriented programming tool known as Scratch did survive the Linux-to-Windows switch.

At the same time, having Windows allows students to take advantage not only of Microsoft's dominant Office suite, but of all the educational software that has already been written for Windows.

For the past week, I've had two XO laptops on my desk, one of each OS variety.

I've taken them both to coffee shops and let myself explore each machine. I'll save my thoughts for a later post.

But to really get a sense for each device and its unique appeal, I turned to an expert--an 8-year-old who's far more representative of the target market than a reporter who has to dye her hair.

Ella Taggart, the daughter of one of our editors, happily volunteered to put each of the devices through its paces. She spent an afternoon at CNET's offices on Wednesday exploring the built-in software on each, looking up her spelling words on Wikipedia and attempting to visit her favorite Web sites.

In the end, she found each option had its challenges and each its benefits. She had a great time using the built-in speech synthesizer on the Linux version, while the Magic School Bus game that was on the Windows version was also enthralling.

Web browsing was slow on the Linux model and the pointer and menu system somewhat complicated for someone used to Windows. Still, when it came time to borrow one for the night, she opted for the Linux model, in part because it had more built in than she had a chance to explore in her brief time at the office.

In the end, she said she liked the XO no matter what software it was running. It was fun and just the right size for her (even if all the adults complained about its small keyboard).

From my perspective, her experience shows not that the software doesn't matter. It matters a great deal. But it's all about how a school chooses to use the laptops. Used properly, as part of a well-thought-out curriculum, both models offer tremendous opportunities for students to learn about technology and how to use technology to learn about many other areas.

At the same time, I don't think either model simply dropped in the hands of children will do the trick. That meshes with the experience I had touring through the Bradesco Foundation school in Campinas, Brazil. It wasn't the fact that all the students had Intel Classmate PCs that made the program stand out. It wasn't the use of Windows over Linux.

What made the the experience so dramatic was how well the teachers incorporated the laptops into their teaching. It was the fact that the art teacher used the PCs for research, but had the students put them away and use their hands to make wax sculptures.

It was the fact that while each student had their own laptop, they still worked in groups as often as they worked alone.

Some countries have demanded that their students work on Linux, arguing open-source computers offer a chance for an independent software economy not tied to Microsoft. Many others, such as Peru, have demanded Windows, arguing that that's what their students need to get good jobs. Ultimately, OLPC hopes to offer a dual-boot option, though that is still being developed.

Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News

Ella Taggart tests two versions of the XO laptop.

And while developing nations will now have their choice of operating systems, those in the U.S. won't enjoy the same flexibility.

OLPC plans to reprise its "Give One, Get One" program this holiday season, which lets Americans pay for two machines--one of which they keep and the other of which they donate. However, in all cases, the one they get will be of the Linux variety.

In part, that has to do with the fact that Microsoft offers a cut-rate version of Windows for large educational programs that doesn't apply to the consumers here that buy the machines.

Microsoft general manager James Utzschneider notes that it's also not comfortable with the lack of support that comes with the OLPC for those who take part in Give One, Get One.

"This is Windows," he said. "People want to be able to pick up the phone and call us if they can't get something to work."

Microsoft's Lieneke Schol shows off the XO laptop running Windows to Peru's education minister, Jose Antonio Chang Escobedo

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft and the One Laptop Per Child project announced Monday that Peru will be the first country to try out XO laptops running Microsoft Windows as part of a nine-month pilot program.

The companies said they are still trying to determine the size of the trial. Microsoft has been working for some time to port Windows onto the XO devices and the two companies announced in May that OLPC would start selling a Windows-based XO laptop to interested countries.

"We are extremely excited to take part in this historic educational pilot that will benefit school children throughout Peru," Peru's education minister, Jose Antonio Chang Escobedo, said in a statement. "Integrating technology into our school curriculum will help to advance our knowledge economy, improve access to information and will generate opportunities for our students, which, through governmental policies, aims to improve the learning process we are offering our children, as well as closing the digital divide which currently exists between schools in rural and urban areas."

OLPC had initially focused solely on Linux, but began working with Microsoft after a number of countries indicated that they were only interested in the XO if it could run Windows.

"This pilot in Peru represents an important milestone in the evolution of One Laptop per Child," said Charles Kane, president of One Laptop per Child, said in a statement. "It demonstrates our ability to collaborate with Microsoft to provide governments a choice of operating system on the XO laptop."

Microsoft, meanwhile, is working with XO, but has also backed the use of Windows on other education-oriented machines, such as Intel's Classmate PC. (Click here to read about the Bradesco Foundation school in Campinas, Brazil, which is using Windows-based Classmate PCs or here for CNET News' recent Borders of Computing series.)

So, I guess this makes it Two Operating Systems Per Child.

The One Laptop Per Child project and Microsoft announced Thursday that indeed the XO laptop will be available in both Linux and Windows varieties. The companies plan to sell a Windows-powered XO in five or six countries starting next month, with a broader release in August or September.

"We view it as a major opportunity for OLPC to expand and expand in a couple of ways," OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte told CNET News.com in an interview Thursday. "One is to have a broader acceptance in the community and the other is to have more software and software developers available."

Microsoft announced in December that it was working to see if it could get Windows XP up and running on the OLPC devices. To make it work, it needed to get the operating system to boot from an SD card and to create drivers to work with OLPC's unique features, such as its touchpad and e-book reader mode.

Negroponte said the ability to run Windows is a must-have in some countries. For example, he said, Uruguay made it a requirement in its recent solicitation. Even in other countries where Windows is not required, Negroponte said compatibility with the Microsoft operating system still helps give the laptop credibility.

"When I talk to people and tell them we can run Windows, they are very impressed," he said. "You pass a sort of virility test."

Microsoft and OLPC aren't saying which countries they will start selling the Windows-based XO model in first, although a press release quotes an official in Colombia, so I'd bet that will be one of the first.

Meanwhile, Negroponte stressed that he is not giving up on Linux and ultimately aims to deliver machines that can boot into either operating system.

"There's no premeditated plan that one is going to dominate over the other," he said. "Having both is a very powerful option."

Microsoft, meanwhile, said the first XO laptops with Windows that start rolling out in June will not be dual-boot machines. Microsoft executive James Utzschneider said the XO will help broaden the range of educational machines with Windows. Plus, he said, "There are just a lot of people that have fallen in love with that cute little laptop and they've said we want to see Windows on it."

For his part, Negroponte said starting out with Linux was essential. "For us to launch the laptop, we had no choice but to use open source," Negroponte said. "We needed the community. We needed to get (in) there at the OS level to build devices and drivers...to make our point, to make the laptop."

Negroponte is hoping the move to Windows won't cost OLPC the things that made its product unique. The company is aiming to port the XO's "Sugar" interface over to Windows.

"We are in discussion with several third parties," Negroponte said. "I suspect we will have some conclusion next week or the week after."

He added that the 50-person OLPC Foundation itself lacks the resources to tackle the software project. "Plus, we don't have the skill set," he said.

Microsoft and OLPC have both talked about the importance of getting laptops in the hands of children in developing countries, although they have not always talked in the fondest terms about one another's efforts.

"OLPC hasn't done that well," Chairman Bill Gates said in a January interview.

Meanwhile, speaking at a Linux conference in 2006, Negroponte said of working with Linux and AMD rather than Intel and Microsoft: "AMD is our partner, which means Intel is pissing on me. Bill Gates is not pleased either, but if I am annoying Microsoft and Intel then I figure I am doing something right."