Linux.com

As I understand, the idea behind designing the Shugar UI was too support people who had never seen a computer, keyboard or mouse and who may not speak english. The UI has basic picture icons and a minimalist apearance so that someone completely new to the concept of "move mouse, see pointer move" is not overwealmed be being dropped strait into a full blown Windows/Gnome/KDE/other desktop. Also, if you simply slap a fullblown desktop interface on there then you have a whole whack of English text. A; that's even harder for a non-English person to become familiar with rather than simple image icons. B; there's already uproar over the OLPC providing too much English and "Western" ideas and influence so again, a language neutral UI helps there also.

Remember, it's Redhat or some such Linux based OS under the hood; it won't take long before some smart student swaps out Shugar for some other UI. That's part of the reason that FOSS was the prefered solution originally when Microsoft first said there was no way they'd provide a custom OS or include the sourcecode with it (they seem to have changed there minds since on the first stance).

Windows really isn't all it's marketed too be; it'd be sad to see developing countries suckered into the same lock-in we "enjoy" here.

#