The OLPC project, which will finally begin to start shipping its XO laptops worldwide this July, is attempting to accomplish than just an economic feat. The main goal is not just to provide a low-cost computer, but to help introduce a new approach to technology for children in developing markets. The driving focus of the project is that children are being taught the use of office applications instead of how to create and develop new things.

To achieve its goal of transforming the learning process, OLPCs will come with a slim and unique version of Linux that is geared towards education. Instead of the conventional windows and files approach, the home screen of these computers will be centered on a stick-figure icon. A white ring surrounding the stick-figure will display all programs that the student is currently running. The desktop (or “neighborhood” as the OLPC project terms it) also features a black frame that displays additional icons.

At the core of the XO interface, developers are now announcing the first details of Sugar, the OLPC Human Interface. Sugar provides chat and sharing functions for the core applications featured on the OLPC. Christopher Blizzard, a lead developer for the OLPC project, emphasizes "We want this interface to be social. This means that kids can communicate in every app that they can show each other things, that they can take each other on tours of the web and many other ways of collaborating."

The end-result of the OLPC will be a computer that will offer a new approach to learning. Blizzard adds “90 percent of the underlying programming code was cobbled together from technologies that long existed in the open-source programming community.” All of the tools available on the XO will be freely modifiable by anyone.

When finally delivered to students around the world, the low-cost laptops are expected to transform education. The laptops will come with a wide range of programs, including a Web browser, word processor and even an RSS reader.

Nicholas Negroponte, who originally launched the project two years ago at MIT’s technology labs, is quite optimistic regarding the future of the OLPC. In an email interview with the Associated Press, Negroponte wrote "I have to laugh when people refer to XO as a weak or crippled machine and how kids should get a 'real' one. Trust me, I will give up my real one very soon and use only XO. It will be far better, in many new and important ways."

The OLPC project will attempt to take full advantage of their low-cost computers, which as of right now will feature a 366-megahertz AMD processor along with 512 megabytes of flash memory, which will be the primary means of storage. USB 2.0 ports will also be included for further memory expansion along with a built-in camera.

The machines are currently being manufactured by Quanta Computer Inc. Each country will receive a localized version of the laptop specific to the official language of the country. In addition, OLPC representatives will be sent to schools for one month in order to help teachers and students adjust to the new computers. The project has so far received $29 million in funding from many notable companies, including Google Inc., News Corp. and Red Hat.

The OLPC project page expects Sugar to start beta testing this February with the first OLPC shipments starting in July 2007.