If ultraportables were last year's big surprise success for GNU/Linux, one of the potentially exciting technologies for this year is the instant-on pre-operating system that loads in seconds when you power up a desktop or portable.

With the BIOS business in a long-term decline, Phoenix is aiming for a rebirth as a vendor of technology that, instead of enabling Windows, starts to compete with it. On Monday, the California-based vendor unveiled a Linux-based virtualization platform called HyperSpace.