Patent ID: 7441113

Claim:
A computer implemented method for the virtualization of appliances, comprising the steps of: storing an embedded operating system (OS) in a system boot ROM of a personal computer, said personal computer having a default OS; immediately launching said embedded OS when said personal computer is booted, before launching said personal computer's default OS, and suspending launch of said personal computer's default OS at least in part; downloading a virtual appliance once said embedded OS is communicatively coupled to an appliance server, wherein a user interface of said embedded OS does not change during this process; upon launching said embedded OS, said embedded OS looking for available virtual appliances at any of a local storage medium and a network location, an appliance comprising a self-contained binary package that contains everything that is necessary to perform a particular task; said embedded OS displaying at said personal computer at least some of said available virtual appliances for selection; selecting from said user interface available virtual appliances at least one appliance to use at said personal computer; and downloading and launching said selected virtual appliance at said personal computer; wherein said virtual appliance includes its own execution environment, resides and executes entirely in RAM, and does not need local persistent storage.