Splashtop Instant OS now available for all Notebooks

An instant-on computer has always been one of the most sought after goals of operating system manufacturers. Unfortunately, unless you’re relying on a powerful processor coupled with a speedy solid-state drive, it’s tough to get Windows to boot in less than 30 seconds. That’s where Splashtop OS comes into play- claiming to boot into the browser based OS within seconds.

While the Splashtop OS name may be a bit unfamiliar, the OS itself has been present in many different iterations over the past couple years. Seeing as it was originally shipped only via OEM’s, the OS is better known as Acer’s Insta-boot, Asus’s Express Gate, Dell’s Latitude On, HP’s QuickWeb and numerous other titles. However, the transition away from a reliance laptop manufacturers began with a free standalone version being made public last November. Disappointingly, that version was only compatible with a select number of HP devices and not much else.

Now according to Splashtop Inc, the quick-start OS is available as a free download and should work for all x86 systems. The OS can be installed as a second option OS; running alongside Windows installations. Upon booting up the computer, users will be given the choice between starting Windows normally and entering the Splashtop environment. Users also will be able to continue into Windows from Splashtop by simply clicking the Windows key at the bottom left.

As for the OS itself, it is a Linux based environment that hopes to provide full web connectivity within seconds. Upon booting into the OS the user is presented with the Bing search bar and links to various shortcuts that can be customized to include Gmail, Dropbox, Twitter, Facebook and the Chrome web app store to name a few.  The OS also comes with a number of plug-ins preinstalled, including the ever-important Adobe Flash plug-in.

In the sense that it’s a web-based OS, Splashtop does resemble Google’s Chrome operating system. However, the Chrome OS has been marketed as an OS by itself while Splashtop makes do as a 2^nd option with Windows installations. On the other hand, there’s no denying that Splashtop is now fully available for most systems while Google’s Chrome is still under development for the time being. And while laptop users will probably benefit the most out of the OS, desktop owners can also give the OS a try by heading over to Splashtop’s website (link found below).

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