Pour Some Sugar on OLPC

We've seen the design. We've seen it play doom. We've heard that it's in the production process. And now we get some sugar. The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative, spun off from the MIT Media Lab, has an operating system for the XO machines they've dubbed "Sugar." It's safe to say that the look and operation is completely different than anything we've seen before. And you thought Vista was different than what you were using.

According to OLPC they've given the virtual desktop idea a wholesale kick to the curb. They've developed an interface that "graphically captures their [the users of the machine] world of fellow learners and teachers as collaborators, emphasizing the connections within the community, among people, and their activities." Everything that's been coming from OLPC has touted their innovations and re-thinking of a computer from the ground up. They've been searching for a way to create an interface and tool for learning useable world wide. You can download emulations and software that will allow you to dink around with Sugar if you're so inclined.

Not only does this provide us with a look at what children around the world may soon be experiencing while using computers but it was a reason to draw us back to the OLPC website that now has a brand new Web 2.0-style design. No longer does it have the feel of a geeky wiki site, but it's a bit of simple, brightly colored pictographic logo to help users navigate the information available on the site – though it's augmented by a wiki. The front page logo (shown right) makes it seem like it belongs in the world of technology innovators.

Images from One Laptop Per Child