June 23 - 3:05pm EDT   The Splashtop instant-on platform from DeviceVM is coming to Sony's VAIO NW-series notebook PCs and Acer's AspireRevo nettop PCs, as per a pair of Tuesday launches. Sony's implementation of the platform is called Quick Web Access, while Acer calls its RevoBoot. In either case, Splashtop, which could be described as a lightweight Linux operating system, allows users to access the Internet within a few seconds but without having to boot the full operating system. [full story]

December 1 - 5:05pm EST   Good OS, makers of the gOS Linux operating system that debuted in computers sold at Wal-Mart, on Monday announced it will soon introduce its Cloud operating system that can give users near-instant access to Google, Yahoo and Windows Live services, as well as rich client applications and multimedia content. Good OS introduced the Cloud on a GigaByte touch-screen netbook at the Netbook World Summit kicking off today in Paris, and will begin including Cloud alongside Windows XP on the PC builder's tablets early next year. When users need to do access more hardware-intensive programs, they can go from Cloud to Windows XP. [full story]

October 28 - 11:00am EDT   Lenovo today revealed an upgraded version of its IdeaPad S10 netbook that caters to owners looking for quicker access to the Internet. Where most netbooks have to wait as they boot into either Windows XP or a full Linux distribution, the S10e adds a Linux-based SplashTop interface dubbed QuickStart that starts up almost instantly and gives immediate access to most common Internet functions, including web browsing with Flash support, messaging and audio or video chats. [full story]

October 15 - 9:15am EDT   Microsoft could be hoping to preempt the further spread of Linux into its territory by developing its own pre-boot interface, a survey sent by a reader to Engadget shows. Tentatively called just Instant On, the proposed feature would mimic the approach taken with Dell's Latitude Instant On or the Splashtop interface on some ASUS mainboards and notebooks by giving users basic web browsing, media playback, and messaging in a special interface that would start in less than eight seconds. [full story]