The time it takes to boot up a computer can be a source of frustration — especially if you’re in a rush and just want to log on, get information and move on with your day. If televisions took as long as PCs take to start working, we’d miss game-winning touchdowns. Slow boot-up time...

Here at Engadget, we don't spend an awful lot of time dabbling in operating systems, but when Phoenix Technologies offered us the chance to check out its HyperSpace instant-on OS, we just couldn't resist. After all, it's hard to ignore the allure of reported sub-10 second bootup times on portable-by...