Sometimes you want to send a quick e-mail or look something up online but don't feel like waiting for your computer to boot up. With Splashtop, you can be surfing the Web in seconds. Built into a computer's basic input-­output system--the software that sets up the operating system--Splashtop gives you a choice at startup: you can either boot up normally or load a stripped-down operating system that runs just a few common applications. Circuit boards featuring the system are on the market now; they should turn up in computers within months.

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