I read this great article about TinyXP, a pirated version of XP Pro with all the latest drivers and stripped down versions (the BARE option apparently only has a 50MB RAM footprint!):
http://apcmag.com/pirated_windows_more_impressive_than_the_real_thing.htm
Sure, they're pirates, but Microsoft should hire these fellas (or contract them?) to make TinyVista and then include a way to register the customized TinyVista. It'd be a win-win: users get better customization, Microsoft gets another sale.
Here's a quote I never thought I'd read about Windows, though:
Quote
Of course, TinyXP is based on a pirated version of Windows so it?s completely illegal to use as the basis for any installation. Having said that, it?s also a remarkable example of what can be achieved thanks to the flexibility and modularity of the Windows platform, and it?s something which any administrator or enthusiast with a bit of time on their hands (OK, a LOT of time) can achieve.
ms takes advatage of this in their imbeded products and win PE products. However these are only seen by enterprise and oem customers.
The old "WinLite" and "98Lite" etc. products were awesome... That's what I used to use to reinstall 98, then I'd use Ghost or something to save time for the 9 months later when I'd have to rebuild the OS... Nice to see an XP equivalent, since I rea-ea-EAlly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Cox) don't want to ever have Vista running, not even on the kids' machine...