Some of these instant-on linuxes actually run on a separate ARM chip from the main OS to further differentiate it as the low-capability/low-power/long-battery alternative to the full blown Windows OS, as well as the speed of access element.
Latitude ON runs MontaVista Linux on an ARM-based subprocessor. This so-called MontaVista Montabello Mobile Internet Device Solution provides a customizable, Linux-based Mobile Internet Device (MID) platform the laptop is able to boot almost instantly and view Email, document reader, calendar, contacts and access the Internet
... Dell claims that up to 19 hours of battery life on standard lithium ion batteries can be achieved with this system.
