Laptop-for-kids project resumes donation program

(AP Photo/William B. Plowman, file) :: A One Laptop Per Child "XO" machine is seen in this Sept. 20, 2007 file photo. Microsoft and the One Laptop Per Child project on Thursday, May 15, 2008 announced that the nonprofit's green-and-white "XO" computers now can run Windows in addition to their homegrown interface, which is built on the open Linux operating system. That had been anticipated for months, but it amounts to a major shift.

By Associated Press
Updated: 5/20/2008

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.

The One Laptop Per Child project plans to resume its Give One Get One program, in which people spend $400 to buy one of the nonprofit's rugged computers and donate a second one to a child in a developing country.

Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the laptop group, announced the return of the donor program Tuesday as he disclosed plans for a second generation of the ''XO'' computers. By 2010 Negroponte hopes to unveil a smaller, more energy-efficient version with two touch screens and a price closer to the long-term goal of $100. Negroponte said his new target is $75.

For now the group has sold about 600,000 XOs, which cost $188. About 162,000 of them sold in the first round of Give One Get One, which ran in November and December. Negroponte said the program brought laptops to countries that couldn't have afforded to buy the computers themselves for their residents, including Haiti and Afghanistan.

The second run of the donor program is expected to begin around the end of the summer and be open to buyers in Europe and the United States.

One Laptop Per Child recently announced a partnership with Microsoft Corp. that will enable international governments to choose a Linux or Windows operating system on XOs they buy. But buyers in Give One Get One might not be able to opt for Windows unless the nonprofit and Microsoft work out a licensing arrangement.

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