Good Gear Guide reports that One Laptop per Child, due to power concerns over the current Geode chip, will be using ARM processors in the XO-2. Unfortunately, they are trying to get Windows ported to the ARM so that it can be offered as an option.

OLPC’s goal is to extend the battery life of the XO-2 laptop while building in more functionality than is in the XO-1, said Ed McNierney, chief technology officer at OLPC. OLPC officials said Arm-based integrated chips will draw less power than x86 integrated chips while building in functionality such as graphics and wireless networking.

However, the Arm chip could lead to problems for XO-2 in trying to load a full version of Windows, Negroponte said. As with the XO-1, OLPC wants to offer a dual-boot option on XO-2 where users can choose to load either Linux or a full Windows OS. While Arm processors can run Windows Mobile operating systems, they can’t run a full Windows OS.

“Like many, we are urging Microsoft to make Windows — not Windows Mobile — available on the Arm. This is a complex question for them,” Negroponte said.

OLPC is in talks with Microsoft to develop a version of a full Windows OS for XO-2, Negroponte said. The XO-2 is still 18 months away from release, so “a lot can change with regard to Microsoft and Arm,” Negroponte said.

I doubt Windows is likely to be ported to ARM anytime soon, seeing as previous ports of Windows NT to other architectures failed to gather support due to developers not porting their software to the other architectures.

• Good Gear Guide
• Slashdot

Powered by Ubuntu. Source: ghindo on Flickr. License: CC-BY 2.0

Laptopmag.com reports that shipments of preinstalled Ubuntu systems on Dell’s Inspiron Mini netbooks account for a third of all shipments, while the return rates are similar to those systems with Windows XP.

While MSI told us a few months back that Wind netbooks running SuSE Linux saw 4x higher return rates than that of XP machines, Dell has had quite the opposite experience with its Inspiron Mini 9 offering with Ubuntu. “A third of our Mini 9 mix is Linux, which is well above the standard attach rate for other systems that offer Linux. We have done a very good job explaining to folks what Linux is,” says Dell’s Jay Pinkert.

According to Dell, the the return rate of Ubuntu running Mini 9s are comparable to the XP rate, which we are told is “very low.” “Our focus has been making sure that before the order is taken is that the customer knows what he is getting,” New added.

I’m guessing it’s the user interface. Does SuSE have a default user interface or a simplified one?

• Laptopmag.com
• Slashdot

Asus Eee PC. Source: Kamil Porembiński on Flickr. License: CC-BY-SA 2.0

Electronista reports that hardware manufacturer ASUS is developing a netbook that will run Google’s Android operating system.

ASUS on Friday said it has been developing a netbook based on Google’s Android platform. The company’s Eee PC division lead, Samson Hu, informs Bloomberg that engineers have been tasked with readying one of the mini notebooks for a tentative end-of-year release window. While specifications aren’t known, the smartphone-oriented operating system demands less resources than Windows XP and is usually optimized for ARM processors and touchscreen displays.

Hu warns that the system is still early enough in development that it may not become a final product.

I assume this means that ARM-based netbooks are on the way, seeing as I don’t know of any non-ARM variants of Android. This could really boost free software’s presence while at the same time cutting even more costs and hopefully expanding battery life. I really hope this makes it through development.

• Electronista [Print Version]
• Digg

Crying - Credit: emrank on Flickr (CC BY)

OLPC has made a big change by cutting its staff and half, and abandoning Sugar.

Here’s the email highlights and my translations:

1. 50% cut in staff & pay cuts for the remaining staff (Ouch! Who’s left then? And can they turn off the lights.)
2. A shift to Middle East, Afghanistan and Northwestern Pakistan (Hello donor funding paid to OLPC, not Quanta!)
3. Sugar to be spun off (Walter, you want it, take it. We’ve got Microsoft now.)
4. Latin America & Africa to be spun off (You’re not buying more laptops, so goodbye.)
5. $0 Laptop for LDC’s (we’ll give stuff away if you donate it to us first!)

I guess now that they have all that popularity from media attention and TV commercials with Amazon, they don’t need us (the free software community) anymore.  I’m a little disappointed that I see stuff like this at the source and don’t realize that it’s big news until it hits 3 other blogs.  I’m wondering if the olpcnews blog is going to continue now.  Unless the OLPC project makes a huge 180, don’t expect any more news about this project from me.

• OLPC News

iTNews Australia reports that netbooks running Windows could be considered for New South Wales’ promise to give every student a school laptop.

The admission, made by a Department spokesperson to iTnews, follows  reports this week that open source-based computers  may be the only way for the Rudd Government to make good on its promise.

The spokesperson said that alternatives to the Microsoft operating system are on the table.

“The Department’s current standard operating system is Microsoft,” the spokesperson said.

“The Department is always investigating new and more cost effective operating systems.”

The NSW Department of Education and Training said no decision had been made on the viability of one operating system over another.

While this is disappointing, it is worth noting that this is not a final decision by the NSW Department of Education to use Windows machines.

• iTNews Australia [Print Version]
• Slashdot

iTunes error. Source: http://arstechnica.com/

Ars Technica reports that Apple’s new line of MacBooks contains a new Mini DisplayPort. This port also contains a DRM scheme that breaks compatibility with unapproved display devices when select videos from the iTunes Store are played.

When my friend John, a high school teacher, attempted to play Hellboy 2 on his classroom’s projector with a new aluminum MacBook over lunch, he was denied by the error you see above. John’s using a Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter, plugged into a Sanyo projector that is part of his room’s Promethean system. Strangely, only some iTunes Store movies appear to be HDCP-aware, as other purchased media like Stargate: Continuum and Heroes season 2 play through the projector just fine. Attempts to play Hellboy 2 or other HDCPed films through the projector via QuickTime also get denied. Other movies that don’t work include newer films like Iron Man, Star Wars: Clone Wars, and Love Guru, but older films like Shawshank Redemption are restricted as well.

This was first reported on November 18th.  I apologize for this post being so late.

• Ars Technica
• Electronic Frontier Foundation

OLPC Give 1 Get 1 Program. Source: http://amazon.com/xo/

OLPC News reports that the One Laptop per Child “Give 1 Get 1″ program will be offered in Europe as well as the United States and Canada.

Details are still thin on the ground but here are the initial answers to some of the most important questions about a G1G1EU that we asked back in October:

1. When will G1G1 v2 be available in Europe? Monday, November 17, just like in the United States.
2. At what price?Around $399 | £254 | €312 (No VAT will be applied only shipping costs!).
3. Which countries will be included? The 27 member states of the EU, plus Switzerland, Russia and Turkey.
4. Will we get customized keyboards? No, there will only be English/International keyboards.
5. Which power-plugs will be available? European and UK.
6. How will I be able to order or donate? Also via Amazon’s online-store at amazon.com/xo from where you will be redirected to amazon.co.uk.

This is good news for Europeans, although it would be nice of the keyboards came in other layouts to better suit the locality.

• OLPC News
• Amazon
• Slashdot

OLPC Logo. Source: http://laptopgiving.org/

Good Gear Guide reports that Columbia has now launched a trial program where some of their shipments of OLPC XO-1 machines will be running Windows.

Schools in the towns of Quetame and Chia will be outfitted with the small green XO laptops developed by the OLPC. The pilot programs are expected to expand over time.

Microsoft and OLPC will donate the XO laptops and work with teachers on how to use them in schools. The groups did not say how many laptops would be handed out as part of the trial nor when it would start.

The decision to put Windows on the laptops came about because officials in some countries feared a non-Windows laptop would ill prepare students for the real world, in which Microsoft software dominates. OLPC ultimately decided to ignore the controversy and follow its mission of delivering laptops to kids in developing nations, no matter which OS countries ask for.

While I do not approve of this idea, it is at least worth noting that most of the laptops ordered by Columbia are not running Windows:

Last month, OLPC announced that several towns in Colombia were in the process of buying or deploying its XO laptops, most of which use a Red Hat Fedora Linux OS core customized by OLPC and a graphical user interface aimed at kids called Sugar.

• Good Gear Guide
• Slashdot

PC Authority reports that Mandriva has released a special edition of their operating system that runs on “netbooks” such as the ASUS EeePC called “Mandriva Mini.”

Mandriva Mini is aimed primarily at vendors of so-called ‘netbooks’, and is customised for this category of small form factor device, Mandriva said.

It features a fast boot-up, comprehensive connectivity support and multimedia codecs, and is adapted to work on key netbook platforms such as Intel’s Atom.

It’s nice to see more operating system diversity on this new platform.

• PC Authority [Print Version]
• Slashdot

Source: OLPC wiki

Computerworld Australia reports that Peru will conduct the first trial of OLPC laptops with Windows XP instead of the custom Fedora build. The trial is to be conducted over the next nine months.

Kids and their teachers in the country will use the laptops as part of efforts to introduce more technology into classrooms in Peru, including Microsoft’s Student Innovation Suite of software, which includes Microsoft Office 2003 as well as Learning Essentials 1.0 for Microsoft Office.

The decision to put Windows on the laptops came about because officials in some countries, such as Egypt, feared a non-Windows laptop would ill prepare students for the real world, in which Microsoft software dominates.

The group now offers XO laptops with either Linux or Windows XP. Within the next few months, laptops armed with both operating systems will be available.

I’m pretty sure that if the idea behind OLPC was to train children for using non-XO machines that GNOME or KDE would be used instead of Sugar.

• Computerworld
• Slashdot