If you're on linux, you should consider kvm + kvmtool + plan 9 
AFAIK, kvmtool wasn't integrated into 3.1. Is it stable/mature enough to run plan 9?

i have to say my experience is quite different
Hm, that's odd. 9vx runs ok in ubuntu in tinycore, but not in arch. Maybe the thing is in Arch's kernel config or patches (although, stock kernel is quite vanilla...)?
Are there Arch users to confirm?