OLPC to dual-boot Windows, Linux

So much for staying "open," eh? Granted, it's no surprise--we've known that the OLPC XO was getting Windows XP for a while now--but it's still a little shocking to see those plans materializing. The latest development is that the OLPC project and Microsoft are currently working together to create a version of the XO that can dual-boot Windows XP and Linux. "We are working with them very closely to make a dual-boot system so that, like on an Apple, you can boot either one up," OLPC chairman Nicholas Negroponte told InfoWorld. "The version that's up and running of Windows on the XO is very fast, it's very, very successful. We're working very hard to do both." And what of openness? Negroponte apparently thinks that Microsoft is now working closely enough with the open-source community that it won't be an issue. "...[I]t's become a little bit less religious than it was a few years ago and that's really good. In the end, I think, the more people that have software and hardware out there, the better." In related news, the OLPC project is also said to be in talks with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to deploy Windows-running XOs in developing nations.

For more on Windows on the XO:
- see this InfoWorld article