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To add to that....
The test results on Win98/ME/2k were completely successful. Win98 especially, since Taskmon still works as it did in the Chicago Betas. Obviously, Win95 will (and does) have even more functionality in the minimal mode. Win2k benefits from allowing the user access to the system services console; I personally got 2k running at a steady 24Megs, peaking at 31 Megs. Win98 got good marks at 22 Megs, and ran quite stable (we all know the process crash tendencies); WinME did pretty well at 25 Megs and was infinetely more stable without Explorer to crash it. So it's quite possible to get all three on an older machine (486-series is about the best I'd expect though) using it's existing hardware in some cases.
The tests using VMWare and Virtual PC were also completely successful. Both applications had plenty of resources for the client machines, and got a 30% performance boost simply because there wasn't anything getting in their way (like Explorer) and tying up processes. I set VMWare and VPC both as shells and frankly, I was VERY pleased with the results (other than having to do a shut down from the task manager).
Cygwin (I'm involved with it to some degree) seems to do pretty well in minimal mode too; but again, you'll need to shut down with task manager.
Tested some explorer replacements, but they didn't fare well due to the fact they weren't meant to be run as a shell. In every case, had to shut down using task manager.
The real winner was Windows Server 2003. Progman is still there, still does it's job like in XP Pro, and Server benefitted from the experience. Identical to XP Pro, except the memory useage was slightly higher because of all the new stuff. Got a few security warnings (normal), and a few inconsistiencies and quirks (because of the hardening), but still it made for a good experience.
On to Longhorn 4015. Longhorn was VERY happy with the tweak. Talk about fast...my god, FAST. Without the memory leaks and all the unfinished services (like WinFS) disabled, it behaved like XP Pro on steroids. Quite responsive, and it's stability was rock-solid. More so than Server. Still a LOT of compatibility issues kept me from installing a lot of stuff, but if you follow the tweaking guide on ieXBeta for longhorn, you'll be surprised how well it runs and what you can actually get it to do. The unfinished XP-Compatibility mode stuff is still a joke, so I don't reccommend 4015 in this mode unless all you do is surf and do email. Good eye-candy tho, and plenty of speed; but too raw and unfinished to be useful.
Now to the add-ons.
If you want desktop icons, go with Icon-X (part of Desktop X but can be run on it's own accord much like CursorXP). It'll give you your right-click desktop menu also. Still in beta and a little buggy when configuring it, but a good way to get icons if you need them.
ObjectBar: If you absolutely NEED a start menu, this'll do you. Taksbar and systray don't function properly, so don't expect a total fix; but good when used with Icon-X.
Sysmetrix: Grab it, use it. Nuff said.
More to come. I've got that network install thing to do now.
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