The OLPC project has finally bitten the bullet and reached an agreement with Microsoft to use its XP operating system on its low cost laptops for the developing world.

Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project made headlines when it was announced that a Linux OS would be used rather than the seemingly ubiquitous Windows option.

Red Hat

However, the Red Hat OS and the suite of programs to run on it – called Sugar – have not proved a sweeping success and the prospects of an OS choice and eventually a dual-boot machine now seems inevitable.

XP does not currently support Sugar or, perhaps more crucially, the Mesh netowrk that allows the lapotps to form movable ad-hoc networks

Plans

Microsoft said it plans to start trials of Windows on in June for emerging markets, where customer can choose between Windows and Linux.

The decision to go with Red Hat was controversial from the off, with many asking why the more popular Ubuntu linux was not chosen.