The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has manufactured the first set of 200 notebook computers. The devices will be distributed as test units to government officials and software developers. 

Christopher Blizzard, a software developer at Red Hat who is developing the OLPC's Linux operating system, said on his blog that the units are "very close to the final hardware builds of the machine". 

Software developers can use the Linux software to test their applications for potential compatibility issues.

The OLPC project aims to provides children in developing nations with access to information and allow them to develop programming skills.

The efforts are centred on a low cost notebook computer designed to function in dusty environments with an irregular power supply.

The project sells its notebooks directly to governments in units of one million, but is not taking any orders until the development of the laptops is finalised.

Nigeria, Libya and Brazil are among the nations that have expressed a strong interest in purchasing the devices.

The notebooks are powered by an AMD processor, and feature a dual-mode screen that operates indoors and in direct sunlight. The device can be recharged with a foot pedal.

The computers are commonly referred to as the $100 Laptop, in a reference to a $100 price tag that the project targeted when it first started working on the design. The first units are likely sell for about $135 to $140.

Intel launched a competing $400 Eduwise laptop earlier this year, and Intel and Microsoft have criticised the OLPC project.

Intel chairman Craig Barrett dismissed the project as a "$100 gadget", and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates criticised the small screen.