Of the many new features introduced in Windows 7, the humble Problem Steps Recorder was one of the least talked-about. At first glance, the application—which combines an automatic screenshot utility and a sort of low-grade keylogger—appears to be nothing more than a tool to make life a little easier for Microsoft’s legion of support personnel. Upon closer inspection, there’s actually much more to the Problem Steps Recorder.

Savvy users who opt to install Joli OS as a secondary operating system to complement their existing Windows 7 installation will find that booting into the thin client is so fast that they’ve already logged on, fired off an email, and moved on with their lives in the time it would take for Windows 7 to load to its boot screen. Setting up your PC to dual-boot into Windows 7 and Joli OS couldn’t be easier, with the whole process taking no more than 45 minutes and a single download. Here’s how it’s done.

I have an average-size spare bedroom that mostly functions as a home office and gaming room, and has been used primarily by me. Given the cramped quarters of San Francisco apartments, I set out to make the room less me-centric and more family-friendly by transforming this home office into a home office theater. The goal was to create a room suitable for three things: normal PC computing, big-screen surround sound movie viewing with no reconfiguration needed, and big-screen gaming. Ancillary goals were to make the room feel less like a cluttered man cave, and to avoid breaking the bank.

For the most part, I think I got this one right.