OLPC XO to have Windows XP option by fall [U]

Microsoft tonight revealed that the highly talked-about OLPC XO – a laptop initially designed for students in developing countries – will ship with Windows XP as an option in August or September, with some countries to get the low-cost ultraportable sooner. Engadget expects that in the future, the operating system will most likely replace the current Sugar front-end offered in the XO, but OLPC has not explicitly said anything to support the theory. The build is allegedly the same as that of the Eee PC, with custom drivers for the XO hardware.

Windows XP would come on a 2GB SD flash card, rather than the built-in 1GB chip, which gives users around 1.5GB of free space for personal documents and media.

Update: Microsoft clarified that the XP-enabled XOs that would ship next month would be a test bed for the program in "key emerging markets", not a full-scale deployment as previously thought. The software giant also mentioned how the XO would be dual-bootable between Windows and Linux, and that it is currently making strides to integrate Sugar into Windows XP.