News broke from Redmond today — much to the horror of the Open Source community — that Microsoft plans to deploy Windows XP onto the One Laptop Per Child program's XO laptop in "limited field tests."

The OLPC XO-1 — intended as an ultra-low-cost laptop for children in developing countries — runs a Fedora-based Linux operating system intended for optimal use of the systems light-but-rugged hardware. The laptops come out of the box with only 1GB of flash memory, far too little to run heavy-laden operating systems like Windows. However, Microsoft insists it plans to try to make Windows work on the systems, in what appears to be just the latest of Microsoft's desperate attempts to hold down Linux in the developing world.

The ray of light at the end of the tunnel, however, is that Microsoft isn't committing fully to the project — just yet.

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