What is StartKey? Everyone is talking about it right now as if it were something new. Well probably from a marketing point of view it is.
Common consensus is that StartKey is not actually the Windows OS on a USB key, but rather your profile. Its not likely to be like a ‘Live’ Linux because Windows is not quite as nimble. In fact you can have Windows on a USB stick right now, albeit in cut down form. The Windows PE 2.0 edition will boot to a pared down version of Windows Vista that has some basic functionality including network access. But it is cutdown, so its not the rich (albeit heavy) environment that user expect from Vista, but it does work and serves it purpose for maintenance and fixed function activities.
In fact you can build a full Windows XP (but yet Vista) to boot from USB Key or DVD using the Embedded Edition. The trick that embedded edition performs is that it has a special driver which prevents writes occurring back to the registry which is most undesirable on USB keys (whose memory wears out) and impossible on DVD/CD media. Windows (especially Vista) is very chatty to the registry, writing to it all the time, even when at standstill and the filter driver removes this roadblock.
So given that booting and running Windows from USB key is already possible (albeit very slow), then StartKey must either be a repackaging of these technologies (unlikely because of licencing) or a way to transport your profile including My Documents etc, like a domain roaming profile.
There is already a similar technology out there today called Mojopac which virtualizes your Windows installation http://www.mojopac.com/portal/content/hellomojo.jsp which is worth checking out.
