diff --git a/lib/parfait/class.rb b/lib/parfait/class.rb
index f380880b..b8170fcb 100644
--- a/lib/parfait/class.rb
+++ b/lib/parfait/class.rb
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ module Parfait
     end
 
     @@CLAZZ = { :names => [:name , :super_class_name , :instance_methods] , :types => [Virtual::Reference,Virtual::Reference,Virtual::Reference]}
-    def layout
+    def old_layout
       @@CLAZZ
     end
     def mem_length
diff --git a/lib/parfait/space.rb b/lib/parfait/space.rb
index d39a1157..8619b7f8 100644
--- a/lib/parfait/space.rb
+++ b/lib/parfait/space.rb
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ module Parfait
 
     @@SPACE = { :names => [:classes,:objects,:symbols,:messages, :next_message , :next_frame] ,
                 :types => [Virtual::Reference,Virtual::Reference,Virtual::Reference,Virtual::Reference,Virtual::Reference]}
-    def layout
+    def old_layout
       @@SPACE
     end
 
diff --git a/lib/parfait/word.rb b/lib/parfait/word.rb
index 92559c10..41d53a56 100644
--- a/lib/parfait/word.rb
+++ b/lib/parfait/word.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ module Parfait
   # Words are constant, maybe like js strings, ruby symbols
   # Words are short, but may have spaces
 
+  # Words are objects, that means they carry Layout as index 0
+  # So all indexes are offset by one in the implementation
+  # Object length is measured in non-layout cells though
+
   # big TODO , this has NO encoding, a char takes a machine word. Go fix.
   class Word < Object
     # initialize with length. For now we try to keep all non-parfait (including String) out
diff --git a/lib/virtual/compiled_method.rb b/lib/virtual/compiled_method.rb
index afa48be9..a9c580cf 100644
--- a/lib/virtual/compiled_method.rb
+++ b/lib/virtual/compiled_method.rb
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ module Virtual
       Ast::NameExpression.new(name)
     end
 
-    def layout
+    def old_layout
       Virtual::Object.layout
     end
     # sugar to create instructions easily.
diff --git a/lib/virtual/machine.rb b/lib/virtual/machine.rb
index 55151eb4..deb02056 100644
--- a/lib/virtual/machine.rb
+++ b/lib/virtual/machine.rb
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ module Virtual
     def self.instance
       @instance ||= Machine.new
     end
-    
+
     # for testing, make sure no old artefacts hang around
     #maybe should be moved to test dir
     def self.reboot
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ module Virtual
           cl = @space.get_class_by_name( name )
           cl.set_super_class(object_class)
       end
+      #boot_layouts
     end
     def boot
       # read all the files needed for a minimal system at compile
diff --git a/lib/virtual/object.rb b/lib/virtual/object.rb
index 3f1e0ac2..c7101334 100644
--- a/lib/virtual/object.rb
+++ b/lib/virtual/object.rb
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ module Virtual
       raise "abstract #{self.class}"
     end
     @@EMPTY =  { :names => [] , :types => []}
-    def layout
+    def old_layout
       raise "Find me #{self}"
       self.class.layout
     end
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ module Virtual
 #    @@CLAZZ = { :names => [:name , :super_class_name , :instance_methods] , :types => [Virtual::Reference,Virtual::Reference,Virtual::Reference]}
 #    @@SPACE = { :names => [:classes,:objects] , :types => [Virtual::Reference,Virtual::Reference]}
 
-    def layout_for(object)
+    def old_layout_for(object)
       case object
       when Array , Symbol , String , Virtual::CompiledMethod , Virtual::Block , Parfait::Word
         @@ARRAY
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ module Virtual
 end
 ::Parfait::Message.class_eval do
   include Positioned
-  def layout
+  def old_layout
     Virtual::Object.layout
   end
   def mem_length
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ end
 end
 ::Parfait::Frame.class_eval do
   include Positioned
-  def layout
+  def old_layout
     Virtual::Object.layout
   end
   def mem_length
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ end
 Parfait::Dictionary.class_eval do
   include Positioned
   HASH = { :names => [:keys,:values] , :types => [Virtual::Reference,Virtual::Reference]}
-  def layout
+  def old_layout
     HASH
   end
   def mem_length
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ Parfait::Dictionary.class_eval do
 end
 ::Parfait::List.class_eval do
   include Positioned
-  def layout
+  def old_layout
     Virtual::Object.layout
   end
   def mem_length
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ end
 end
 ::Parfait::Word.class_eval do
   include Positioned
-  def layout
+  def old_layout
     Virtual::Object.layout
   end
   def mem_length
diff --git a/test/fragments/test_string_class.rb b/test/fragments/test_string_class.rb
index 9394124b..5eb3f035 100644
--- a/test/fragments/test_string_class.rb
+++ b/test/fragments/test_string_class.rb
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ class Object
     l = @layout
     return l.index_of(name)
   end
-  def layout()
+  def old_layout()
     return @layout
   end
 end