USB brings dead computers back to life

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Sugar Labs originally created what is known in the industry as ‘sugar on a stick’ for use with the One Laptop per Child (PLPC) project that brought a computer to children in developing countries, but now they have expanded the USB technology so that it can be plugged into any computer to make the computer usable again.

The USB works basically by placing the entire operating system of a PC onto the USB drive so that when inserted into a computer, no matter how old it is, the computer becomes usable again.

Sugar Labs launched the new software in Berlin at the LinuxTag conference.

The new computers used for PLPC were marketed as laptops that only cost $100, but for the public they cost $199 but offer the benefit that the new sugar on a stick device can make practically any machine work again no matter how old, ancient, or type of computer system it is.

The 1GB USB not only includes an operating system, but an operating system that has a word processor, games, a drawing application, and over 40 different programs. The idea is to encourage collaborative learning among its youthful users many of which may be using a laptop for the very first time.

Plus, Sugar will automatically back up all data which is a task most children are not completely capable or responsible enough to think about.

One nice plus of the sugar on a stick software is that it can be used on any operating system from Mac to Windows to Linux.