News: Computer Hardware for Small Business

New Intel Chip Takes on AMD

Core 2 Duo Raises the Technical Bar and the 2006 Outlook

by Keith R. Wheeler

8/1/2006

Remember when the term Pentium implied something cutting edge? That was back in 1993 when Intel replaced the then aging 486 lineup. Those were the days when clock speed was considered a pretty good indication of the actual speed of the processor. The fact that Intel’s new chip is not built on the basis of the original Pentium architecture has created some real buzz in the world of technology. For the last several years Intel has been playing from behind. Their challenger, AMD, has been producing some very exciting and efficient microprocessors resulting in a cut in Intel’s market share. Keep in mind that after taking AMD’s best shot, Intel still maintains more than seventy percent of the market based on the number of processors sold. With the release of the new Core 2 Duo processor, Intel plans to get back its momentum in its competition with AMD. In addition, the Core 2 Duo should give the whole personal computer industry a shot in the arm. Very favorable reviews have come in for Conroe, the code name for the Core 2 Duo processor (the code name for the mobile version of the Core 2 Duo is Meron). With Intel getting lots of press about their new processor, it brings up the issues with Microsoft’s delay of its Vista operating system. With Vista pushed past the end of the year, many analysts thought that the 2006 personal computer sales would suffer as purchases were put off until Vista’s arrival. For small businesses looking to take advantage of additional write-offs in the calendar year, Core 2 Duo-based Windows XP machines could still make good sense since they will be very capable of running Vista whenever it makes its debut. From another angle, a great deal of gratitude is owed to AMD for providing some fierce competition to the microprocessor marketplace. Who knows how soon a chip on the level of the Core 2 Duo would have been made available without the push that competition in the free market brings?