This must have been what vaudeville was like when a none-too-successful act opened for the star.

Dell unveiled a high-end anorexic laptop Tuesday that basically has Linux opening for Windows.

Windows has a bit of a problem with this instantly gratifying instant-on booting business. So Dell stuck a low-power Linux-bearing secondary ARM-based motherboard next to the 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo in its new $1,999 Latitude Z 600 widget. That means users can instantly access Windows 7 and its e-mail, Firefox browser, calendar and document accoutrements as soon as the dingus is opened.

It’ll still take a while for the user to be able to edit the documents and access the laptop’s hard drive or his corporate network, but this is only 2009.

HP uses Linux this way too but without the ARM chip, making it more hit and miss.

The Latitude can also optically scan in business cards and wirelessly recharge on a separately priced $199 inductive “recharging pad” – a first.

The widget is obviously aimed at the business class, which has been singularly absent from the sales cycle since the recession kicked in, particularly the Apple-leaning “impression makers” Dell is targeting.

The machine is supposed to be the world’s thinnest and lightest 16-inch laptop, weighing 4.5 pounds and measuring less than an inch thick.

One might observe too that this is ARM’s break into mainstream computing