Why isn't this possible?

[Mateo]

I've been thinking about Asus Express Gate and other such "instant-on" OSes that are ROM based. Why can't you put the OS and a couple of other "essential" apps (browser, email client, maybe file browser) on the ROM and then have everything else load from the hard drive in the background? instead of breaking it up into the "quick OS" and the "full OS", why can't you just put the OS on the ROM and have everything else run from the hard drive?

[red_Marvin]

The operative systems on those motherboards are probably coded with a very small subset of the hardware available today in mind, but if such an os should be able to work consistently on all or at least many mother boards it would probably grow in size and complexity, and naturally grow slower.

There is also the matter of updates. If the os really is stored in ROM, you wouldn't be able to upgrade it without buying a new set of chips.

If it is stored in flash memory (as in thumbdrives), well ssd's are coming, and they'll get cheap enough sooner or later.

[Mateo]

Why couldn't you develop the OS to be for a specific motherboard?

[red_Marvin]

More or less because then you would have to create and maintain a very large number of operative systems and it would not be economically feasible.

On the other hand, this kind of "double" os stuff might be more common if this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuzRsXKm_NQ) gets popular. (Stolen from Daveski in this thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=5470309#post5470309).)

[Mateo]

I didn't say that right. What I meant is that you can maintain "one" OS, but you don't need to bundle all of the drivers like you do with normal OSes. Just bundle the drivers necessary for the motherboard it's running on.

Also, this wouldn't have to be done by 1 company. Each motherboard company would maintain their own OS for their own motherboard, which they know very well.

[J.T.]

When a MEMS drive becomes more feasible, you can have the storage built on the motherboard. Super fast and super small.

[madjr]

I've been thinking about Asus Express Gate and other such "instant-on" OSes that are ROM based. Why can't you put the OS and a couple of other "essential" apps (browser, email client, maybe file browser) on the ROM and then have everything else load from the hard drive in the background? instead of breaking it up into the "quick OS" and the "full OS", why can't you just put the OS on the ROM and have everything else run from the hard drive?

hmm isn't this what consoles (like ps3) are doing ?