The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project is in the final steps to finally ship the first laptops to poor children living in poor countries.

It has taken more than two years, but the One Laptop Per Child initiative has finally released its much-anticipated laptop: the OLPC XO-1. The XO-1 costs $200 each to donate, but for a limited time — until Dec. 31, 2007 — people can avail themselves of the "Give One, Get One" promotion to give a $399 donation ($200 of which is tax-deductible).

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is an amazing project that aims to give every child in the world a laptop with a cost of just $100 a laptop and they also are windup so in countries where there is no or little electricity you can wind the OLPC up to get it working.

The One Laptop Per Child Foundation (OLPC) has highlighted the need to provide computing to kids in the developing world, but headlines surrounding the group's $100 laptop PC have attracted a growing number of companies and organizations trying to figure out how the digital world can help those most in need.

"This news got me thinking about the potential child abuse risks inherent in the One Laptop Per Child initiative and other "$100 laptop" projects. These well-intentioned efforts plan to give computers to poor children throughout the world, to facilitate their education and fuel economic development."

One Laptop per Child is announcing an agreement with Microsoft to make a dual boot, Linux/Windows, version of the XO laptop. In addition, our intention is to engage one or more third parties to port Sugar to run on Windows in order to reach a wider installed base of laptops.

It's taken a remarkably short time for the One Laptop Per Child project to change from positioning itself as the saviour of children in developing countries to becoming a toady for Microsoft.

Microsoft wants to rule the world, even Third World countries where $100 laptops for children will soon be prevalent. In a move bound to spark controversy, Microsoft announced it wants Windows XP to be installed in the computers for the project One Laptop Per Child (OLPC).

I didn't intend for OLPC to become one of my favourite topics, I just happen to notice a lot going on about it in the press, and sadly a lot of it is just plain wrong. Take, for example, a recent article by Sam Varghese, entitled "OLPC: one virus per child" [which] surmises that because Microsoft is working hard to provide Windows XP for the XO Laptop and Nicholas Negroponte made a comment about reorganizing the One Laptop Per Child organization to be run "more like Microsoft", the XO Laptop is doomed to be a vessel for spreading computer viruses worldwide.