Hotmail
Microsoft to test Windows on '$100 laptop'
It's taken nearly a year to get Windows XP to run on the low-cost computer
Tech Holiday Gift Guide |
 Digital photo frames not always a ‘snap’ to use Digital photo frames are still trying to find their place in the home and in the office. Some are easy to use, but others are not. |
Real Women’s Guide to Technology |
An MSN special that focuses on consumer technologies that can benefit women. |
 | Tech and gadgets videos |
 Fight off the Nazis in 'The Saboteur' 'The Saboteur' is a stylized shooter set in Nazi occupied Paris in the 1940's. Msnbc.com's video game reporter Todd Kenreck takes a closer look at the game's unique style. |
 | Video |
 |
Auto Tech |
A better economy may lure buyers, but these trends could seal the deal. |
Most popular |
| |||||
SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. will begin testing a version of Windows XP in January on the "$100 laptop" from One Laptop Per Child.
It has taken nearly a year of engineering to get the bulky operating system to run on the low-cost XO computer, Microsoft said. The XO uses flash memory instead of a hard drive and offers less storage space than most mainstream PCs.
In May, The Associated Press reported Microsoft's concern that the memory issue and other technical hurdles would stymie efforts to port Windows to the XO, which was originally designed to run a free Linux-based operating system.
The software maker has released Windows XP for other flash-based, low-cost computers, such as Intel Corp.'s Classmate PC, which has twice as much storage space. For the XO, Microsoft said it has reworked the operating system so it can start up and run from an extra memory card that plugs into the laptop's guts.
James Utzschneider, a general manager in Microsoft's Unlimited Potential group, said Windows XP for the XO won't be ready for widespread use until at least the second half of 2008. And, he said, technical hurdles were only part of the reason.
"It's been a fast-moving target for us to design towards," he said. "We only had a handful of machines in the hands of our engineers in the last year. That, and fact they were still making hardware changes as recently as August, it slowed us down."
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM TECH AND GADGETS |
 Tech and gadgets Section Front |
| Add Tech and gadgets headlines to your news reader: |
Resource guide