Just in time for VMWorld 2006, we are releasing Beta 6 of the moka5 LivePC Engine (build 1.0.7183).

What's new in Beta 6? It contains over 200 changes and bug fixes, here are the highlights.

• Big improvement to download performance when buffering.
• Import system proxy settings from Windows automatically.
• Support for running on International versions of Windows.
• Simple LivePC creation dialog.
• Backup settings for portable device can be modified after install.

Many of you have been asking "where can I host my LivePCs"? Today we have an answer — we are looking for a few pilot users to try out our own LivePC hosting service. If you have a LivePC that you'd like to share and are interested in joining this pilot, let us know by e-mailing [email protected]. Space in the pilot program is limited and will be first come, first serve. All hosting and bandwidth during the pilot is free!

Following quickly on the heels of last weeks' Beta 4 release, we have a new Beta 5 release of the moka5 LivePC Engine available for download now!

What changed in Beta 5?

• UI performance and stability has been improved. OpenGL video driver support is no longer required to run the LivePC Engine.
• We have fixed the LivePC starting issues that began appearing with Microsofts' Windows update on Tuesday.

Please give this release a try today by downloading and running the installer — it will safely upgrade an existing installation. We will push this out as an autoupdate for all users next week (this never happened for Beta 4 due to the Windows update issue).

Update 2 (Oct 9th, 11:30pm PT): Beta 4 has been republished on the Get Started page. We found a work around for the installer problems and are working on a permanent fix in the next beta.

Update (5pm PT): we found some potential problems with the installer for Beta 4 and have removed it from the site for now. We'll let you know when it is ready to download again. Our apologies, but we want to make sure that the experience is as smooth as possible for you.

I wanted to begin by saying thanks to everyone who has downloaded the LivePC Engine and joined the discussion on our forum! We're working hard to get the software ready for an official 1.0 release, and it's great to know what features and bugs matter most to you!

Welcome to moka5! Over the past few months our team has been busy hacking, testing, debugging, writing, and debating long into the night. We've now reached a milestone that we're all very excited about — our first public beta release of the LivePC Engine. The software is now available for anyone to download and try out, so please give it a whirl!

For our public beta, we have a brand new version of the LivePC Engine. The most significant change is the ability to install the LivePC Engine on a USB drive. With a USB drive and the LivePC Engine you can take your LivePCs with you to use on any computer. When you quit and remove the USB drive, there will be no traces of your activity left behind. It's very slick to see it in action — we've had a lot of fun testing it out around the office with every flash drive and mp3 player we could get our hands on.