Originally set to get the axe at the end of June, XP Home got a call from the brass at Microsoft, delaying its demise for at least another 2-3 years. Not surprisingly, the reason was the increasing popularity of budget laptops like the Asus Eee PC and Intel's Classmate PC. Microsoft has vowed to keep XP on the market…

The Nigerian government finally agreed to run Mandriva's Linux build on its portion of an order of 17,000 Intel Classmate PCs. The 2GB Wi-Fi laptops were initially scheduled to have Mandriva Linux, but then Microsoft apparently got into a bidding war, offering up a low-priced Windows version. On Halloween, things…

Intel and Microsoft have shipped 150,000 of their "Classmate PCs" to the Libyan government, beating the OLPC to the market there. OLPC is expected to ship 1.2 million of their laptops to Libya, but that may prove difficult given the recent news regarding production problems. [BetaNews]

The two biggest rivals aiming to distribute laptops to the third-world shorties—Intel, develper of the Classmate PC, and One Laptop Per Child led by Nick Negroponte—have shaken hands and buried the hatchet, says the AP. Here's the skinny:

It would seem that the shorties in developing countries are a hot new market indeed. Last month, we reported that Asustek, makers of the Asus-branded laptops, would be introducing a flash-based $199 laptop. Well, economics being how they are, the price is now looking like $249 (at the low-end, on up to $400), and the…