The One Laptop Per Child project could switch from Linux to Microsoft’s Windows XP, OLPC Founder and President Nicholas Negroponte told the Associated Press, one day after the resignation of his No.2 Walter Bender was made public. And one of the reasons for that could be that many governments are reluctant to any PC that doesn’t run Microsoft Windows.

Microsoft has been working for almost a year now on a version of Windows to run on XO laptops, and according to Negroponte, the XO might soon have a “dual-boot” option, allowing users to run either Windows or Linux

Negroponte also added that there is a difference between being an open-source supporter and an open-source fundamentalist, giving as an example Sugar (XO’s own software that relies on graphical features and addresses children that haven’t had the chance to work with a PC), which “grew amorphously” and “didn’t have a software architect who did it in a crisp way,” and the laptop’s lack of support for Flash animation, which is widely used on the web at the moment.

"There are several examples like that, that we have to address without worrying about the fundamentalism in some of the open-source community," he said. "One can be an open-source advocate without being an open-source fundamentalist."

The OLPC founder said they need more efficiency in order to reach as many children as possible, adding that there is a possibility to eventually use Microsoft Windows XP as the only operating system, together with Sugar, with open-source educational apps for children.

That however is an idea that many reject, saying the idea of the OLPC should have gone against Microsoft’s dominance on the market, instead of embracing it.

So far, the OLPC program has managed to sell over 500,000 laptops over the past two years, reaching children in countries like Afghanistan, Mongolia or Peru. So far, Negroponte hasn’t managed to accomplish one of the main objectives of the program, and that is to reach the $100 price tag (the XO laptops have been sold for less than $200).