I'm surprised and disappointed with Intel's action. I received my XO machine before Christmas, and it really is a great little machine. It's primary weakness is a lack of sufficient 'oomph' to make using Flash a viable means of delivering lessons, or to make the on board video a really useful means of recording and distributing lessons. It's close though, and Intel might have been able to help.<p>On the more positive side, the activities such as the TamTam music suite, and the measurement activities, and journal software are tremendous, and show a vision for a different, non-traditional way of doing software. The software, including the Python-based 'frame' and 'zoom' neighbourhoods work great, though occasional pauses and hardware glitches like a dancing mouse cursor can irritate.<p>Of course Intel may be taking the potentially short-sighted view that partnering with the OLPC foundation will erode a future market for more powerful and expensive laptops, based on more profitable hardware, and more expensive (read Microsoft) software.<p>In this case though, it seems like distributing the XO should be a win for everyone. A win for the target countries, who will gain a more educated populace, which can only be a good thing for wealth creation and stability of their countries. And the XO obviously is only a small first step. There will be more and better machines, with better software. After a certain critical mass is reached, many countries, even if they do not have their own chip foundries, should at least be able to contribute to and customize the computers to further benefit their educational mission.<p>Hopefully the OLPC foundation will continue to succeed. It's a shame that Intel have retreated for now. I hope that they will be able to rejoin and contribute to future efforts.