Microsoft looking to bring Windows to budget computers

The low cost XO laptop, which is the hardware brainchild of Nicholas Negroponte and the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) foundation, has been developed to run on a Linux-based operating system to keep the computer’s price tag down. Microsoft is to begin tests on bringing Windows XP to the OLPC's XO laptop. Credit: OLPC.

Microsoft is to begin tests on bringing Windows XP to the OLPC's XO laptop. Credit: OLPC.However, American software giant Microsoft Corp. is currently assessing whether it would be possible to integrate its Windows XP operating system onto budget computers, including the Quanta-made XO. Redmond-based Microsoft has recently revealed that it is in the process of testing its popular XP software in order to see whether introducing it onto the likes of the OLPC’s XO, Intel Corp.’s Classmate PC, and the ASUS Eee PC can be accomplished.According to a CBC News report, tests on the rugged little green and white XO ‘subnotebook’ will begin in January of 2008, with Microsoft suggesting that a viable Windows XP version could well be ready for inclusion by the latter half of the year – should those tests prove fruitful.Microsoft has also outlined that XP should be able to function on 2GB of storage space; however, the XO is presently only equipped with a 1GB drive, which has led the leading software company to ask the OLPC foundation to shuffle the computer’s present features a little in order to allow for a memory expansion slot.Analysts have suggested that the OLPC’s vision to give children in developing nations access to cheap educational computer hardware could see Microsoft missing out on bringing the Windows brand to millions of new customers if it fails to adapt its software accordingly.At present, the XO laptop costs governments $188 USD per unit, when ordered in bulk, while the OLPC fully intends to reduce the price to its initial target of $100 USD as production and component costs reduce during 2008.