I must have missed your post, Hood, on the underlining thing.... Sorry. I'll go back and look later in the day.
You all have very compelling arguments. I don't know that I will ever be comfortable with Windows running a substantial machine, but I do see that Mach has some big advantages too. As the hardware variation is getting smaller all the time, my inclination is to do a two pronged approach... Develop a Mach solution first. Even if this works great, I will probably look at an EMC afterwards (but hey, this is a hobby, so that could be a long ways away!). If I do the software correctly, it should be fairly transportable.
There are several reasons why I am taking this position. First, my previously mentioned concerns of Windows. Second, I program professionally and have always felt a bit of a "hole" in my Linux... An EMC integration will help force a filling of that hole. Kind of killing 2 birds, type of thing.
Next stop is to download the demo of Mach again, and do more research on the app, itegration to it, emulator functionality, etc, etc.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to you all... It is a pleasure talking with you. I love learning and am willing to acknowledge that there is a great deal I do not know. Your patience and comments are veyr much appreciated.
Regards,
Alan