OS War Over Laptop Program
A recent New York Times article reports that Microsoft has unveiled a mock-up for a “cellphone PC” that would be used to bring laptop computing to the people of developing countries. While this is a great plan, it is clear that it is in reponse to the brouhaha between Microsoft and Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative, who failed to reach an agreement to use Windows software for these laptop computers. The OLPC initiative will be using the Linux operating system. According to the article, OLPC is using Linux because of its quality and maintainability. Negroponte is reported as saying, “I chose open-source because it’s better. I have 100 million programmers I can rely on.”
Whether or not Microsoft does produce a cellphone PC that is aimed at the same audience as the laptops, this development is probably a good thing for the OLPC initiative. First, it’s free advertising for the OLPC initiative. Second, competition from Microsoft only enhances the legitimacy of the initiative.
