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But will the alternative be any tastier? That's the question to ask as the drama around OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) becomes the ever-growing soap opera. High-level executive departures, a near-$200 laptop price instead of the planned 100 bucks and now Windows XP pushing out Sugar OS. Somebody wants to influence the world's youth.

Microsoft made its announcement late yesterday, and I almost blogged it before going to bed. But this one needed a fresh mind to grapple with all the nuances behind the drama.

Microsoft's announcement is simple: OLPC will license Windows XP for its XO laptop. Trials will start in June in some emerging markets, which Microsoft's press release doesn't identify. Fortunately, Microsoft's Unlimited Potential blog is more forthcoming. James Utzschneider, marketing and communications general manager for Microsoft's Unlimited Potential group, blogged:

"The offering will RTM [release to manufacturing] in August or September. Initially it will only be available in emerging market countries where governments or NGOs [non-government organizations] are subsidizing the purchase of a large number of PCs for students, but there is the possibility of making this available for other customers through a broader set of channels at a later point in time."

James is refreshingly frank about Microsoft's objectives:

"From our perspective, Windows on the XO is a nice addition to the portfolio of products and services Microsoft has created to help transform education, one of the key themes of Unlimited Potential...The Windows port to the XO is a snappy release that doesn't cut features or functionality in order to work in the constrained memory and storage environment of the XO...Why is Microsoft doing this? The answer is simple: people are asking for it—it transforms education and it leads to the creation of jobs and opportunity."

Follow the Spiritual Leader

Maybe Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates always will be the company's spiritual leader. I find interesting that Microsoft is putting so much emphasis on emerging markets at the same time Bill is transitioning from full-time monopolist to philanthropist. Microsoft puts a real charitable PR spin to its Unlimited Potential program, which isn't philanthropy. It's business. Microsoft wants to sell more products in more markets. The charitable facade is part of the sales effort.

Yes, Microsoft is helping people. But it's not like Mother Theresa work, where the personal benefit is satisfaction of giving. Microsoft profits from its Unlimited Potential work. Cheap XO PCs running Linux interferes with future Microsoft profits, since the company's software and the majority of its services require Windows.

Sorry, but I would be embarrassed to work on what I call the One Windows Per Child program. For too long emerging markets have received cast-off goods, clothes and even pharmaceuticals from so-called mature markets. Microsoft's modern operating system is Windows Vista, but XO laptops will instead get 8-year-old Windows XP. I concede there are limitations. Vista demands too much hardware resources to run on low-powered, flash-based devices such as XO. But that's a problem of Microsoft's making.

Worth noting: Bill may be pushing along the charitable path, but Microsoft isn't wholly following. I don't see Bill advocating second-best anything for emerging markets. In that respect, he's more unlimited potential-minded than his company.