That's why many people were taken aback last week when the founder of the nonprofit laptop project, Nicholas Negroponte, announced that buyers of the machine will be able to add Windows, the ultimate in proprietary software.
However, Microsoft Corp. says it's uncertain whether it can fit Windows on the laptops. Will Poole, who heads Microsoft's emerging-markets group, says the limited storage space (recently upped to 1 gigabyte of flash memory) and other original elements on the One Laptop Per Child program's ''XO'' computer aren't welcoming for Windows.
''I don't know how to get the thing to run on less than 2 gigs,'' he said. Plus, at least 10 custom drivers—which tell an operating system how to interact with hardware—need to be designed, Poole said.
Why does this matter? Because One Laptop Per Child is still negotiating with several governments to finalize orders for at least 3 million of the machines, the level at which the project's mass-distribution plans kick in.
And with the computers' price now up to $175 ($100 is the long-term goal), some officials might want Windows as a potential backup if the machines' alternative interface doesn't capture children's fancy as envisioned.
''We have had requests from government officials who are looking at that device, to ask us if it can run Windows,'' Poole said.
Negroponte seemed to deliver a definitive yes to that question. ''We will run Windows,'' he said last week. Asked for elaboration, a spokesman for Negroponte wrote in an e-mail. ''He was stating a fact—not a hope or a desire.''
But Poole said the answer should have been maybe. ''I cannot make any promises,'' he said. ''There's work still to be done. People should not bank on having Windows.''
For his part, Negroponte wasn't touting Windows itself as much as user choice. He stressed the educational theories behind his project's original interface, which is open-source so as to let children tinker with it. He also said government ministers had not really been asking him about Windows on the machines, citing Egpyt as a rare exception. But he acknowledged that the potential to run Windows could reduce the risk for some buyers.
''He's playing to some purchasing minister somewhere,'' said Wayan Vota, who directs the Geekcorps international tech-development organization and follows the laptop project closely at his OLPCNews blog. Vota added that he hopes no XO buyers switch to Windows, because he believes Microsoft's software would be unable to utilize many of XO's innovations, including its radical power-saving capabilities and wireless networking functions.
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