  We report on first results of XMM-Newton observations of nearby starburst
galaxies that form part of a multi-wavelength study of gaseous halos around
late-type spiral galaxies and their dependence on the level of star formation
activity in the underlying disks. XMM-Newton, with its extraordinary
sensitivity for faint extended X-ray emission, is used to derive spatial and
spectral properties of the very hot extraplanar/halo gas. For example, spectral
models can be tested and hot gas properties like density, mass and energy can
be estimated. Comparing the distribution of the halo X-ray emission with
optical filaments and/or observed magnetic field structures uncovers
interesting correlations on which work just has started. Our study aims - in
general - at assessing the importance of galactic halos as repositories of a
metal-enriched hot medium and their significance in terms of galactic chemical
evolution and possible metal enrichment of the intergalactic medium.
