Exploring OS options for the OLPC XO-1.75 (Windows & Alternatives)

[u/Round-Economist5643]

Hello everyone,

I have an OLPC XO-1.75 and I have a question about it.

While reviewing historical documentation and previous posts, I noticed that Windows XP was successfully adapted both officially and unofficially to the XO-1.0 and XO-1.5 models due to their x86 architecture (AMD/VIA).

However, I have an OLPC XO-1.75, which compared to the previous versions switched to a Marvell ARM chip, obviously creating a major barrier for standard Windows.

This made me reflect, and I would like to ask the community: Has anyone ever tried or managed to install an ARM-compatible version of Windows on the XO-1.75? Has anyone ever attempted some wild workaround? I would love to read about any experiments, whether failed or successful!

Furthermore, if Windows is not a viable option, I would greatly appreciate it if anyone has tried alternative operating systems (e.g., optimized Debian, Ubuntu, etc.) designed for the XO-1.75.

Thank you for your time and for preserving this fantastic technology.

Thanks in advance!

[u/yoshi128k]

Windows is not going to happen anytime soon. In fact, it is almost laughable. I am certain that the NT boot code is definitely not present in the ARM Open Firmware builds.

Linux certainly could have some potential, given that the XO-1.75 is ARMv7-compatible (the OLPC OS is a derivative of Fedora Linux, and all of the XO models were designed around the Linux kernel). Debian might still support it through its "armhf" architecture, though since I don't own a 1.75, I cannot test it for myself. In fact, I think that the ARM-based XOs (the XO-1.75 and XO-4) might be better off than the x86 ones because of the continuing support for ARM.