Mozilla has announced a new experimental project called Boot to Gecko (B2G) with the aim of developing an operating system that emphasizes standards-based Web technologies. The initial focus will be on delivering a software environment for handheld devices such as smartphones.

The current mobile landscape is heavily fragmented by the lack of interoperability between each of the siloed platforms. Mozilla says that B2G is motivated by a desire to demonstrate that the standards-based open Web has the potential to be a competitive alternative to the existing single-vendor application development stacks offered by the dominant mobile operating systems.

The project is still at the earliest stages of planning. Mozilla has some ideas about how it wants to proceed, but seemingly few concrete decisions have been made about where to start and what existing technologies to use. The project was announced now despite the lack of clarity so that contributors will be able to participate in the planning process.

Mozilla also intends to publish the source code as it is developed rather than waiting until it can release a mature product. These characteristics could make the development process a lot more open and inclusive than the practices that Google uses for its Android operating system.

Mozilla’s current tentative plan is to adopt a slim layer of existing code from the lower levels of the Android operating system for hardware enablement purposes and then build a completely custom user interface and application stack around Gecko, the Firefox HTML rendering engine. Android was chosen because it will theoretically offer compatibility with existing hardware, but Mozilla ultimately intends to use “as little of Android as possible.” It will not use Android’s Java-based environment and it will not support programming in native code.

A foundational goal of the B2G project is to explore and remedy areas where current Web standards are insufficient for building modern mobile applications. Instead of haphazardly grafting vendor-specific markup or extensions into the application runtime, Mozilla will seek to propose new standards to address the challenges that emerge during development. It wants the applications developed for B2G to eventually be able to run normally in any conventional standards-compliant Web browser (yes, that presumably rules out XUL).

Building an operating system seems like an excessive approach to fulfilling the stated goals of the B2G project. It would be simpler and much more straightforward to focus on building a standalone Web application runtime—like an open alternative to Adobe AIR—rather than building a complete operating system from the bottom up.

There are a lot of fundamental issues that make developing software with Web technologies less practical than using conventional user interface toolkits. HTML’s document-centric approach to layout and the lack of standardized mechanisms for binding programmatic data models to user interface views pose many challenges. It’s not really clear if Mozilla is interested in addressing those issues or will continue to leave that as an exercise for third-party JavaScript toolkits.

It seems like the areas where Mozilla is interested in pursuing new standards are basic platform integration and access to hardware. It wants to have uniform and predictable ways for Web applications to access a platform’s contact and messaging capabilities, geolocation functionality, cameras, and dialer.

Of course, Mozilla is also interested in tackling some the issues relating to security and privilege management that are implied by giving Web applications such deep access to underlying platform components. Those areas are, perhaps, where building the whole operating system becomes advantageous.

There are a number of existing products and open source software projects like Titanium, PhoneGap, Webian, Chrome OS, and webOS that cover some of the same ground. None, however, really have the same scope and focus as B2G. It’s possible that there are some opportunities for collaboration.

A code repository is hosted on GitHub, but doesn’t have anything yet besides a README file. For some additional information about the project (there aren’t many details yet) you can refer to the B2G wiki page.

This article originally appeared on Ars Technica, Wired’s sister site for in-depth technology news.

There’s a particular badge of honor you earn in web culture when you gain a high-profile impostor — Fake Steve Jobs comes immediately to mind.

But Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel and a bona fide hero within the free software community, is so beloved, he’s gained four pretenders.

For the last month, four Fake Linuses have emerged, each one posting 140-character bursts of humor and insight to Twitter and Indenti.ca, a free software alternative to Twitter that’s gained some traction among open source devotees.

All four pranksters are voiced by high-profile individuals within the Linux community, but their real identities have been kept secret by the Linux Foundation. The nonprofit advocacy group is running a contest between the four Fake Linuses. The one who does the best (and funniest) impersonation of Linus will be unmasked publicly and given an award at LinuxCon, which begins Sept. 21 in Portland, Oregon.

Webmonkey scored an exclusive interview with one of the Fake Linuses (FLT#2, we’re told). We communicated over e-mail to ensure the poser’s identity would be kept under wraps.

The real Torvalds, who has remained suspiciously mum about the whole thing, has a reputation for being both genial and bristly in his internet communications — he once famously compared OpenBSD developers to “a bunch of masturbating monkeys.”

Thankfully, we found his doppelganger to be just as audacious.

Webmonkey: You’ve been active on the web since its inception, but you’re new to Twitter. What’s more fulfilling, tweeting or posting to Usenet?

Fake Linus Torvalds #2: That’s hard to say. Usenet attracts a very specific group of people, so my flames hit their targets more directly. On the other hand, Twitter is a larger and more varied group, which means I get more flames from all sorts of folks.

Webmonkey: Have you ever asked for help with the Linux kernel on Twitter? If so, what was the response like?

FLT: Me? Need help with the Linux kernel?? Pfftt…

Webmonkey: As a web service, Twitter is notoriously flaky. Any ideas for improving its stability?

FLT: You mean, besides making it open source? Seriously, with so many people depending on Twitter to get up-to-the-second updates on what their friends are eating and which games they’re playing on company time, we need to get an open source development community involved to make it stable and, um, even geekier.

Webmonkey: What other social networks are you on?

FLT: Identi.ca, of course, because that’s where The True Believers hang out. But, I’m not all that “social,” if you haven’t noticed. I prefer to hang out on the kernel mailing list.

Webmonkey: Do you also only have those accounts because the Linux Foundation makes you?

FLT: Nobody makes me do anything. That’s what so great about this job. I spend many days simply trying to learn Napoleon Dynamite’s dance moves. If [Linux Foundation director] Jim Zemlin weren’t always bragging about his moves, I wouldn’t spend so much time on it.

Webmonkey: Which feels more sacrilegious, Twitter on Android or Identi.ca on the iPhone?

FLT: Hands down: Identi.ca on the iPhone is more sacrilegious. Look at it like this: If you’re using Identi.ca, then you’re open-source-minded and tech-savvy enough to know better. The only reason you bought that iPhone was to look cool.

Webmonkey: How difficult is it to compress a complex insult into a 140-character tweet and still assure yourself OpenBSD developers will be able to understand it?

FLT: The BSD crowd generally has trouble reading anything longer than 140 characters, so tweets work quite well for the purpose of insulting them.

Webmonkey: How do you feel about Richard Stallman’s campaign to have Twitter renamed GNU/Twitter?

FLT: Well, is it any surprise, really? He failed to get Linux renamed as GNU, so now he’s trying for Twitter. If that fails, he’ll go after Apple next. Just keep working his way down the food chain. Maybe someday he’ll realize no sane person wants to name their product after a wildebeest.

Webmonkey: What’s up with that guy who has @linus?

FLT: It’s rather charming. It got a little creepy, though, when I caught him going through the garbage cans behind my house. Funny thing is: A lot of people actually thought he WAS me on Twitter. So now I’m trying to be less predictable: I’ve even thrown a few bugs into Linux, just to keep things fast and loose. The bizarre thing is that Microsoft copied them! Those guys…

Webmonkey: On average, how many direct messages does @jzemlin send you each day?

FLT: These days, I have no idea. I had to block him once I started receiving pointless messages every 10 minutes. “So, whatcha thinking about?” “Just heard this song and I thought of you.” “How come you haven’t responded to my messages?” Yeah, pretty weird.

Webmonkey: What was the message that drove you to finally block him?

FLT: I think the tipping point came when he sent me this DM: “Did you know that ‘Linus’ means ‘love’ in Swahili?” It was then that I realized: this bromance had come to an end. I considered a restraining order, but then I remembered that he cuts my paycheck.

Webmonkey: Why can’t the KDE people just give it up, already?

FLT: I can’t venture to guess. But, legend has it that Matthias Ettrich started KDE because his girlfriend could not use the desktop applications of the time. Who’s he kidding? Matthias knows he’s never had a girlfriend.

Webmonkey: As the story goes, you met your wife over e-mail. Do you think there’s any opportunity for people to find love on Identi.ca or Twitter?

FLT: Thanks to the internet, and services like Identi.ca and Twitter, people can search for love 24/7, without ever leaving their parents’ basement.

Webmonkey: About a month ago, Novafora, the company that acquired Transmeta, ceased operations. As a former Transmeta employee, how do you feel about this — in 140 characters or less?

FLT: Sad to see Novafora and Transmeta disappear, but in Silicon Valley, such is life. Companies come and companies go. Only Linux is forever.

Webmonkey: How do you say “tweet” in Finnish?

FLT: Tyhjiöfluoresenssinäyttö. OK, not really. But all Finnish looks the same, doesn’t it?

Webmonkey: Do Fins tweet much?

FLT: Fins love to tweet! How else can they tell their friends about the 20-pound perch they caught ice fishing, without having to set down their beer or turn down the volume on the heavy metal?

Webmonkey: Does Tux tweet?

FLT: It’s hard to tweet when you have flippers instead of fingers.

Webmonkey: You’ve been gravely injured, and you only have the energy for one status update with which to cry for help. Twitter or Indenti.ca?

FLT: I’d cry for help on my Identi.ca account, which automatically feeds to Facebook and Twitter. Triple my chances for help! Microsoft, don’t get any ideas. You come after me, you’ve got to take the whole Linux community down, too. Ain’t gonna happen, baby!

Webmonkey: Can we have your #followfriday list?

FLT: @linuxfoundation, @linuxdotcom, @patricknorton, @donttrythis, @snackfight, @darthvader.

Disclaimer: Fake Linus Torvalds #2 is not the real Linus Torvalds, and these statements do not reflect the opinions of Linus Torvalds or the Linux Foundation. The identities of all four Fake Linus Torvalds will be revealed on Sep. 21 at LinuxCon. You can vote for your favorite FLT — the one with the most votes will receive the coveted Silver Penguin cocktail shaker at LinuxCon.

Note: These results are for all of Wired.com — stories, blogs, photo galleries, magazine content and the How-To Wiki. Product Reviews and Webmonkey are reported separately, but I’ve included the relevant data points for Webmonkey wherever there’s something interesting to point out.

Browsers:

• Almost half of Wired.com’s readers are Firefox users. Mozilla’s open-source browser accounts for just over 48% of our web traffic. That’s far more than any other browser. Webmonkey’s audience skews a little higher, at around 55% using Firefox.
• Firefox 3, which is over a year old, is the most popular browser among Wired.com readers by a very wide margin. Firefox 3.5, which was released three weeks ago, doesn’t show up until #23 in our rankings. We have more Chrome users than Firefox 3.5 users.
• By contrast, just over a third of our readers with Safari are running the most recent version, and two thirds of our readers with Chrome have 2.0, the most recent version.
• Internet Explorer 7 is the most popular version of Microsoft’s browser we see. The dreaded IE6 is the next most popular, then IE 8 in third. The people we have the most pity for are the poor souls running IE6 for AOL (#34 on the list).
• The only version of Opera that shows up in our top 50 is Opera 10. Go early adopters!
• Firefox 1.0 shows up at the bottom of the list, at #50.
• The oldest browser within the top 50 is Netscape 7.0, which came out in 2002. Please, sir or madam, upgrade.

Operating Systems:

Not too many surprises here. Windows XP is number one, followed by Vista, then Mac OS X. Linux is fourth, followed by Windows 7.

Yes, Wired.com sees more Linux users than Windows 7 users. It’s the same on Webmonkey. Be fair — Windows 7 isn’t even out yet.

And speaking of Be, there’s some funky old junk out there surfing the tubes! This is the bottom bracket in our breakdown of top 30 operating systems:

22. OS/2

23. AIX

24. HP-UX

25. BeOS

26. Amiga OS

27. IRIX

28. Windows 9x/NT

29. VMS

30. OSF/1

Kudos to the BeOS holdouts — does NetPositive have JavaScript yet? And Huzzahs to the Amiga faithful! For the uninitiated, “Huzzah” is what they say at renaissance faires when you tip the beer wench. If you had an Amiga, you’d know that.

But, wow… IRIX? VMS? Windows NT? Anyone who wants to lay claim to those, please do so in the comments.

Google announced it will release a new operating system, the long-fabled Google OS, late Tuesday night. While details are currently limited to a short post on the Google Blog, the idea outlined is an operating system built on top of Linux and running primarily a web browser for access to online apps like Gmail, Google Docs and the rest of the Google suite.

Google says it’s working with netbook manufacturers to get Google Chrome OS-powered netbooks to the market in 2010, and it’s not hard to see how netbooks could benefit from the new, lightweight OS and its cloud-based apps.

But at the same time, Google’s announcement reads like classic vaporware, raising far more questions than it answers.

Is the world ready for the cloud?

Forget connection issues, Wi-Fi dead zones and the potential security and privacy risks involved with hosting your data in cloud, what about far more basic issues — how are you going to get music on your iPod? How will you run games? How will you print a document?

After all, Apple already made an admirable effort to turn the iPhone into a cloud-based computing system and we all know how that ended — with a native SDK that sent even the most successful web app developers scurrying to learn C.

Even Google quickly released a native search application for the iPhone, despite having already adapted most of its web-based offerings to work with the small screen. And while we’re huge fans of the potential that offline storage in HTML 5 offers, even we’re willing to admit that the web-based Gmail interface is dog slow compared to the iPhone-native Mail app.

Interestingly, Google isn’t the first company to try to turn its web-based apps into the basis for a lightweight operating system. Good OS previously announced Cloud, an operating system that “integrates a web browser with a compressed Linux operating system kernel for immediate access to the internet, integration of browser and rich client applications.”

Thus far, while Good OS has managed to find its way onto a few netbooks, the OS is far from a success.

Cross-Platform Web Apps?

Perhaps the most intriguing tidbit in Google’s announcement is the statement that the core building blocks of Chrome OS apps will be cross-platform.

It certainly sounds good, but we’re wondering how that’s going to work — in particular, how will offline data storage be handled? There’s the Gears plug-in for browsers, but Gears is rough around the edges and slow to update for new browser releases. For example, Gears still doesn’t work with the latest versions of Firefox or Safari (a beta version of Gears for Safari does exist, but it requires some workarounds to avoid bugs).

There’s a possibility HTML 5′s offline storage mechanism will solve this particular problem, but with IE8 offering little support for HTML 5, it isn’t going to be cross-platform. And it’s difficult to fault Microsoft for hesitating to support HTML 5, given that the spec is still a draft and subject to change.

Given the complexities involved, it seems unlikely that Chrome OS apps will be truly cross-platform — unless Google just means cross-platform in the sense that the apps will run in any web browser, but that’s hardly remarkable enough to tout in a press release.

A browser bundled with the OS, now where have we heard that before?

Google’s Chrome OS announcement says the Chrome web browser will be bundled with the operating system, which is quite simply “Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel.”

Given Microsoft’s history with bundling browsers into the OS and the subsequent anti-trust lawsuits, we assume Google is going to offer some desktop programming tools that will allow other browser makers to run their software on Chrome OS as well. If not, expect Google to experience its own dose of regulator wrath.

Will Chrome OS offer better privacy?

Google is already tracking your searches, the links you click, the e-mails you send and the sites you visit. Are you ready for Google to know every last detail of everything you do from the minute you turn on your netbook? While all that data is anonymized and (theoretically) not traceable to you, it may still give concerned users reason to pause.

Will Chrome OS offer improved security and virus protection?

Google says, as it did upon the announcement of the Chrome browser, that going back to the drawing board will mean a more secure system less prone to viruses and malware. That sounds good, but it also makes for an unknown, untested system. Which would you rather use, an OS like Unix that’s nearly 40 years old and has been attacked from every angle and patched over time, or a system that’s ten minutes old and sounds good on paper, but has no experience in the wild?

Conclusion

Perhaps we’re being overly hard on an operating system that is specifically targeted at netbooks — an underpowered and still very niche market — but Google’s announcement is uncharacteristically short on details, making it hard to see it as anything other than an attempt to generate hype.

However, if we are to assume Google will do a good enough job answering our last four questions relating to the technical and legal details of the new OS, it’s really the first question that’s the biggest. And, it may be rendered moot by the time Google Chrome OS is released to the consumer market.

Remember the video Google released a few weeks ago showing spot interviews with people on the street? Regular, non-technical Americans were asked generic questions about their web browser, and almost everyone showed some level of confusion about the difference between a browser, the web, an e-mail client, a search engine and even the computer itself. This general ignorance about under-the-hood computing is Google’s biggest opportunity to shine. If the company can offer a user experience that’s just a web browser, it may succeed in fully blurring the lines between computer, desktop and web among the average consumer who, frankly, couldn’t care less about the differences.

Google will need to work out a way for users to interface with common devices like cameras, iPods and printers — tying them to Picasa, Amazon (like the MP3 store partnership the companies have on Android) and Google Docs. But if it succeeds, the just-a-browser OS could become something of a hit despite the hurdles.

See Also:

• Five Things Google’s Chrome OS Will Do for Your Netbook [Wired - Gadget Lab]
• Google Announces PC Operating System to Compete with Windows [Wired - Epicenter]
• Why JavaScript Will Save Offline Storage in HTML 5
• First Look: Google Chrome Screenshot Tour
• Google Chrome Gets Add-ons, Closes in on Firefox

Interested parties should sign up for a Live.com account (free registration will be required, so do it now) and watch Microsoft.com Tuesday. The company will announce the download’s availability at some point during the day. Also, be sure to follow Webmonkey on Twitter, as we will let you know as soon as Windows 7 RC1 is ready to roll.

After the crushing server load brought on by thousands of users eager to get their hands on the beta release earlier this year, hopefully Microsoft is better prepared this time around. However, even if the downloads go smoothly, there are a few things you need to know before making the leap.

Both the downloads and the product keys needed to activate the installation are free. Also, Microsoft says Windows 7 RC1 will be available at least through June 30, 2009, with no limits on the number of downloads or product keys available

Officially there is no way to upgrade from either Windows 7 beta or Windows XP to the new release candidate. The only supported upgrade path is from Windows Vista SP1. The Engineering Windows blog says, “Upgrading from one pre-release build to another is not a scenario we want to focus on because it is not something real-world customers will experience.”

Instead Microsoft is encouraging you to “revert to a Vista image and upgrade or to do a clean install.”

Knowing that not all its beta testers will want to wipe an existing install, there is a workaround available that involves editing a configuration file, which will bypass the version check that runs before Windows 7 installs. See the Engineering Windows blog for complete instructions. However, be forewarned that Microsoft admits this method sometimes results in bugs and unexpected behavior.

We suggest going with the clean install method, but if you don’t want to re-configure your entire system, at least there is a way around the beta upgrade limitations.

And Mac users, good news: RC1 reportedly solves the glitches that many people encountered trying to install Windows 7 through Boot Camp. If you were among the many that had trouble with the beta release, it might be worth trying again with RC1.

As for what to expect in RC1, think refinements — UI polishes, slight speed bumps and overall stability improvements.

The primary purpose of a Release Candidate is for hardware and software partners to test against in order to ensure their various devices and applications will work when the final version of Windows 7 becomes available in December or January.

There are a few new features, most notably the virtual “XP Mode” which will allow you to seamlessly run Windows XP applications in a virtual environment, right alongside your newer Windows 7 applications. See our early coverage for a full rundown on the new features in the Windows 7 release candidate.

See Also:

• Windows 7 Release Candidate Hits the Streets
• Windows 7 Will Include “XP Mode” For Compatibility
• After Bumpy Windows 7 Beta Launch, Microsoft Ditches
• Microsoft Gives Windows 7 Fans the Option to Ditch IE 8

Microsoft’s Windows 7 Release Candidate is now available, the company announced Thursday. Registered developers can get their copy of Windows 7 RC1 through the MSDN and TechNet developer programs.

Mortals like you and I will have to wait until Tuesday, May 5, when anyone interested in testing Windows 7 RC1 will be able to download it from the Microsoft site for free. The company will make the download available some time during the day on Tuesday, though it isn’t saying exactly when.

To get your copy on Tuesday, go to Microsoft.com and log in with your Live.com credentials. You’ll get a free product key and a link to download the disk image. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions will be available. It doesn’t matter if you’re already running the Windows 7 beta or not. RC1 will reflect the same code that will be found in Windows 7 Ultimate, the desktop environment with the most bells and whistles. So, early testers can experience the full capabilities of the next Windows.

If the public beta release of Windows 7 earlier this year is any indicator, we should expect a huge flood of interest at Microsoft’s download site as soon as the new software is available.

Jeff Price of Microsoft’s Windows Ecosystem Team tells Webmonkey that the company experienced “a bit of a hiccup” with January’s beta release, but he promised that things would be smoother this time around.

“The public beta was a good dry run for this release,” he says. Part of the reason might be that not a whole lot has changed since the beta — Windows 7 RC1 is primarily about bug fixes, speed boosts and other refinements, not a slew of exciting new features. The primary purpose of a Release Candidate is for hardware and software partners to test against in order to ensure their various devices and applications will work when the final version of Windows 7 becomes available in December or January.

There are a few new features, most notably the virtual “XP Mode” which will allow you to seamlessly run Windows XP applications in a virtual environment, right alongside your newer Windows 7 applications. Although XP Mode is available with the release candidate, it will be a separate download. It will also be a separate download for Windows 7 Ultimate and Professional users when the final versions ship.

Windows 7 RC1 also offers an easier way to stream music and movies from your home to remote locations. While Windows has long allowed you to share movies and music between PCs on your home network, Windows 7 now lets you stream the same files to your laptop, even if it’s no longer on your home network. While it’s possible to do that without Windows 7, Price says the new configuration tools for Remote Media Streaming make the process dead simple to set up.

One thing to keep in mind if you’re planning to upgrade from the beta to the release candidate — well, uh, it doesn’t work like that. You’ll need perform a clean install of Windows 7 RC 1, or, if you haven’t flirted with the beta, you can upgrade straight from Windows Vista.

Of course the real question is, now that a release candidate has arrived, when will we see the final release of Windows 7?

“It’s all based on feedback,” Price says. Microsoft collected a staggering 200 TB of anonymous user data during the beta phase and used that information to build this release candidate. The company expects to collect and analyze even more data with the new RC1.

Expect that process to take a little while, though. Price did tell us that the final version of Windows 7 will arrive no later than January, 2010, three years after Vista’s debut.

See Also:

• Windows 7 Will Include “XP Mode” For Compatibility
• Windows 7 Will Be Less Annoying Than Vista
• Windows 7 Will Let Microsoft Track Your Every Move
• Windows 7 to Dump E-Mail, Photo Editing Software
• After Bumpy Windows 7 Beta Launch, Microsoft Ditches
• Microsoft Gives Windows 7 Fans the Option to Ditch IE 8 …

If you’re pining for Windows 7, but stuck with Vista for the time being, the Vista SP2 update does promise a few goodies that may well make it worth the upgrade.

The most notable new features in SP2 are the ability to burn Blu-Ray discs natively in Vista and the new Windows Connect Now, which makes wi-fi configuration much easier. The Windows Search feature has also reportedly been improved and should be faster.

Vista SP2 will also include a number of bug fixes and all the incremental updates rolled out since SP1 was released.

I’ll admit that ever since the Windows 7 beta arrived, Vista has disappeared from my PCs in favor of dual booting XP and Windows 7, which is shaping up to be what Vista should have been. Still, if you’ve been having problems with Vista, perhaps SP2 can tide you over until Windows 7 is released.

See Also:

• First Windows Vista Upgrade Available to Public
• Windows 7 Will Be Less Annoying Than Vista
• Windows 7 Will Include “XP Mode” For Compatibility

However, unlike Virtual PC itself, which runs as separate desktop in a separate window, XP Mode will let you run your XP apps right along side those that have been updated to work with Windows 7. Under the hood, XP Mode apps will be running through a virtual machine, which means they might be a bit slower, but at least they’ll be available.

The move is similar to what Apple did with “Classic Mode” during the company’s transition from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X.

XP Mode will go a long way toward eliminating users’ hesitation about upgrading to the new OS. Also, it will side-step any headaches along the lines of what Microsoft experienced when its “Windows Vista compatible” claim failed during the transition from XP to Vista, since the company will be able to claim Windows 7 is compatible with just about every Windows application currently on the market. That’s a huge win for Microsoft, especially with its corporate users, who often have custom applications that would require extensive retooling before the companies can to upgrade to the latest version of Windows.

While XP Mode will no doubt eliminate one of the main reasons to not upgrade your OS — losing access to older applications — it also means that in the future Microsoft won’t need to invest as much time and energy into ensuring that Windows is backwards-compatible. Instead the company can focus on new features and improvements while offering a way to run your older applications.

One thing to keep in mind — the XP Mode features will likely not be a part of the broad Windows 7 release. Instead, XP Mode will be separate download available for free to those who opt for the Windows Professional and Ultimate editions.Of course it remains to be seen how well XP Mode integrates with Windows 7 and how much of a performance hit the virtualization makes. Still, Apple’s Classic Mode wasn’t the speediest of apps, but it did go a long way to smoothing the OS transition. If Microsoft can pull off the same with XP Mode, it should help convince reluctant users to go ahead and make the leap to Windows 7.

See Also:

• Windows 7 Beta Preview for the Masses
• Windows 7 Will Be Less Annoying Than Vista
• Why Linux Will Crush Windows 7 on Netbooks