Splashtop OS

Splashtop
Developer	DeviceVM
OS family	Linux
Working state	Development
Source model	Proprietary
Marketing target	Embedded
Platforms	x86
Kernel type	Monolithic kernel, Linux
Official website	www.splashtop.com

Splashtop is a commercial Linux distribution targeting PC motherboard vendors and other device manufacturers.^[3] It is developed by DeviceVM.^[4]

It uses Bootsplash, SquashFS, Blackbox, SCIM and the Linux kernel 2.6.

Concept

Distinct from most Linux distributions, Splashtop is intended to be integrated on a read-only device and shipped with the hardware, rather than installed by the user. The user can install another operating system but always has this one ready to boot, in case the other one is broken, or in case web browsing and chatting is enough. It boots in about 5 seconds.^[5] It is thus marketed as "instant-on."

An "instant-on" operating system offers many advantages over a traditional operating system:

It boots much faster.
Knowing that, the user will hesitate less before switching it off, which means saving power.
It is less vulnerable to malware as the system is mostly read-only.
It allows for diskless computers.
It is lighter but sufficient for running a web desktop and web applications.

Features

Splashtop features a graphical user interface, a web browser based on Mozilla Firefox 2.0 and a Skype VoIP client software.^[5]

Internals

Splashtop seems to work with a 512MB flash memory embedded on the PC motherboard.^[6] A proprietary core engine starts at the BIOS boot and loads a specialized Linux distribution called a "Virtual Appliance Environment" (VAE). While running this VAE, the user can launch "Virtual Appliances" (VA). Skype is a VA, for instance.^[7]

Motherboards featuring Splashtop

As of April 2008, Splashtop is known to be used on the following ASUS motherboards, and on these it is rebranded as Express Gate:^[8]

P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi AP @n
P5E3 Premium/WiFi AP @n
M3N-HT Deluxe/Mempipe
M3N-HT Deluxe/HDMI
M3N-H/HDMI
M3N-HD/HDMI
M3A-H/HDMI
P5N64 WS Professional

References

External links

Official website
Official blog
Source Code (GPLv2) splashtop_src.zip 11.6 mb
Review on Phoronix.com
Video demonstration on YouTube.com

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[1] Splashtop Instant-On Desktop from DeviceVM

[2] [Phoronix] ASUS Motherboard Ships With Embedded Linux, Web Browser

[3] [Phoronix] SplashTop To Splash Onto Notebooks, Desktops

[4] Splashtop Instant-On Desktop from DeviceVM

[phoronix1-5] [Phoronix] ASUS Motherboard Ships With Embedded Linux, Web Browser

[6] SplashTop's Instant-On Linux Desktop | Geek.com

[7] ttp://www.phoronix.net/image.php?id=870&image=devicevm_splashtop_4_lrg

[8] Have we launched? Is this thing on? | On Top of Splashtop

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