The $114 32GB USB pen drive I bought off eBay is likely a scam (I got it last night and it certainly doesn’t store 32GB, but they say they’ll exchange it for one that will, yeah I know, har har har) but how long can it be before we do have affordable 32GB USB pen drives?

Something that size changes the rules for U3.

I’m gonna bet that they’re going to apply the registry/file system virtualization stuff used by Windows Vista, so that applications will install on a flash drive without having to be specifically built with some third-party framework in order to store config data on the flash device.

Right now, that’s how U3 works… stuff like MojoPac attempts to accomplish that somehow, although it requires admin access to a PC in order to function properly.

If MS did this *without* admin access (since it’s virtualized somehow, duh)…. hey, that’d be even better! :)

(I’ve been reading up on how UAC works lately.. can you tell?)

Sumocat is correct; they will never have full XP on a flash drive. But all they need to do is fuse a few technologies together. They already have apps that run off the flash dive. Now all they need is a GUI that emulates XP. Make it feel like they are running the OS. Have a start menu with all the apps that are installed on the drive and a My Documents folder. Use print drivers and network connection of the host machine. We don’t need a full blown OS, just make it feel like one.

I think you are reading too much into it. To me, it sounds like it will be more akin to logging in under a different user name, complete with your documents and personalized settings, but those settings will be stored on a flash drive instead of on the hard drive. Would be a good solution for people who use different Windows PCs, like between work and home.

I doubt Microsoft would put a full version of Windows on a flash drive. Even if they did, I imagine they will not stray far from their usual price point.

I’m with you Kevin, this could be huge. Wouldn’t it be nice to plug in a flash drive and XP some how virtualizes a desktop of your very own. One that you could run on any PC. Please Microsoft, make it happen.