Presto, the pre-OS that we reported on about a month ago has lost the beta tag and is now selling the first official release, version 1.0. As we mentioned back in the article about the beta, Presto is a quick booting Linux operating system that is easily installed with a simple download and run of the installer right inside Windows.

Presto said that after the beta period the pre-OS was downloaded by some 50,000 people and that they have incorporated improvements into 1.0 based on feedback:

• Improved installation
• Faster boot-up and shut down
• Expanded hardware support
• Bookmark import tool
• Improved user interface
• International keyboard layout support
• Application switcher
• RealPlayer with support for Windows Media Format

I downloaded the 15 day trial of Presto 1.0 to see how the performance has changed and it seems to have gotten a decent boost. Boot times from selecting Presto from the BIOS OS selector until the OS is booted around 10 seconds on my Vaio UX (takes a bit more time for WiFi to connect). Shutdown is even faster, almost instant in-fact. Hitting the power button turned the screen off immediately and the LEDs on my UX180 turned off not 2 seconds later.

If you happened to download the beta version last month, you should have received an email with a code to receive 30% off of the $19.99 retail price, it is only good until April 30th so be quick if you are planning on taking advantage of the offer.

There are several upcoming “pre-OS” solutions, but it looks like Presto will be one of the first out the door. The concept of a pre-OS is to be able to launch into a very quickly booting environment that offers key parts of a traditional computing experience, such as media playback and a web browser. Presto, like most, is based on Linux, and is said to load in 15 seconds. I’m downloading the beta now, which is free for the time being, but when released in full on April 13th, will run you only $20.

“But there are tons of other light weight Linux distros out there!”, I hear some of you saying. Well, Presto has been packaged in a way that you don’t need to be a Linux guru to get it running. In fact, Presto installs through Windows; no need to mess around down in your BIOS fooling with partition space or making your computer boot from the right device. Presto is also making it easy to install apps, just visit the Presto App store (which is just a webpage), and they have neatly organized lots of apps you can install to Presto.

I’ll be testing Presto soon, hopefully on the Mini 1000 [Portal page], and on the Vaio P [Portal page]. I’m interested to see how quickly the Vaio P will be able to load the pre-OS with its quick SSD.

Other upcoming pre-OSs that we’ll be keeping an eye on include: Jolicloud, and gOS Cloud.