Think you can make a better fast-booting, Chrome-focused OS than Google? Want to craft a custom Linux system that boots from a USB stick? SUSE Studio gives you 15 GB to do exactly that, and you do ...

Booting from a OS CD or USB stick runs your computer without a hard drive, allowing you to format prior to installation.

Microsoft Research has developed a non-Windows OS for academic types to play with. The subliminal message from Microsoft: Folks, we'd love to start from scratch with an OS, but we just can't go there.