| Windows XP "not ready for prime time" on XO |
Aug. 06, 2008
 Since Microsoft first announced a version of Windows XP for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) XO laptop, there has been widespread curiosity about how well it runs. Now, in an "exclusive first unbiased glimpse," one publication has pronounced it "not ready for prime time."
(Click here for a larger view of the XO laptop running Windows XP)
Laptop magazine's Joanna Stern reports being invited to OLPC's headquarters, where she tested an XO laptop loaded with Microsoft's Student Innovation Suite software. The suite, which is "exclusively for governments wishing to provide PCs to students," includes Windows XP Starter Edition, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Microsoft Math 3.0, and Windows Live Mail software, according to Microsoft.
As Stern noted, hardware on the XO laptop is predominantly unchanged from earlier versions. The test configuration included a AMD Geode LX700 processor -- apparently still clocked at 433MHz -- an integrated graphics controller driving a 7.5-inch, 1200 x 900 screen, 256MB of RAM, and 1GB of flash storage.
Since the XO's onboard storage is too small to handle XP, however, the system boots from a newly added SD slot, hidden under the screen. According to Stern, OLPC supplied XP and the other components of the Student Innovation Suite via a 4GB SanDisk Extreme SD card, of which approximately 2GB remained free. Oddly, the XO's embedded 1GB flash drive in the XO is inaccessible from XP, she added.
When Microsoft announced its XO version of XP earlier this year, the company's Bohdan Raciborski demonstrated the operating system on video (included in our earlier coverage, here), claiming that the device would be able to boot in about 50 seconds. Not so, counters Stern, who said the "system took a sluggish 1 minute and 24 seconds to boot."
This is about three times as long as the 30-second bootup of the XO's alternative, Linux-based "Sugar" operating system, Stern adds, quipping that "children who get the XO might want to go watch a cartoon or two while they’re waiting for the system to start." OLPC has not yet finished its promised dual-boot startup screen, but the XO reportedly defaults to Sugar whenever the SD card containing XP is not present.
According to Laptop, the XO's hardware and software mostly work as promised under XP -- they just do so quite slowly. Due to the system's scanty 256MB of RAM, the system was said to slow drastically when multiple programs were open. As for initial program loading, Internet Explorer opened in five seconds, but PowerPoint took close to 15 seconds, and Word took a "lengthy" 42 seconds.
OLPC claims Windows XP will support the XO's power-saving, monochrome e-book mode -- but it doesn't work yet, says Laptop magazine
Though WiFi connectivity was no problem, the XO's mesh networking -- which lets multiple laptops discover one another, and share a single Internet connection -- is not functional under XP, says Stern. The device's screen also would not rotate into its tablet/e-reader mode, although OLPC has reportedly promised this for the final build.
"On paper, a dual boot XO gives kids the best of both worlds," Stern wrote, adding that "our early peek suggests that the XP portion is not ready for primetime, as evidenced by the slow boot time, slow application load time, and trouble with multitasking and streaming media. We hope OLPC can fine tune the performance."
Further information
The cost of Windows XP and the added SD storage necessary to run it is rumored to bring the XO's cost to just over $200. The device will only be available to governments or educational organizations, however.
Laptop magazine's blog entry includes additional comments on the XO laptops, plus videos that show the system booting up and running applications. To see the videos, which leave a somewhat more positive impression than the comments cited above, see the Laptop website, here.
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