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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY /
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Breaking News -
Platforms:
Intel, In Shift, Unveils 64-Bit PC
Chip Feature
Intel Corp unveiled plans to bring features previously reserved for "big
iron"
business computers into PCs for home offices and small businesses, a strategic
shift that marked a renewed challenge to smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices
Inc.
The most widely discussed announcement by Intel at a technology conference
it
sponsored was the company's plan to boost the data-crunching power of
lower-end business computers and, eventually, home computers by introducing
so-called 64-bit technology for processors for those machines.
AMD introduced a similar technology -- which lets computers churn through
larger chunks of data and accommodate vast amounts of computer memory -- last
year.
Until Tuesday, Intel had called the shift to 64-bit technology premature
for
all but its highest end chips, known as Itanium, which are targeted to high
end scientific and business applications.
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For their part, AMD executives have said the company expects to take
advantage
of its head start on 64-bit computing to steal customers from Intel, the
world's largest chip maker.
Intel Chief Executive Craig Barrett made the announcement to support 64-bit
computing at the conference, where about 4,800 product developers, analysts
and reporters gathered to hear Intel's views on the direction of computing and
communications.
Barrett said Intel's 64-bit chips would be designed to work with an
upcoming
version of Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system, expected to be released
this year, which will support 64-bit computing. That version of Windows will
also support AMD's 64-bit processors.
Intel also demonstrated a feature called RAID, traditionally used in
business
computers, that protects data from hard drive crashes. Louis Burns, the head
of Intel's desktop platforms group, said that could protect home users from
losing digital photographs or home movies.
Both features will begin to appear in the market in the next quarter.
Intel's
Xeon chips, marketed for lower-end business tasks like serving up Web pages,
will begin to take advantage of 64-bit computing.
The RAID capability will be included in a coming chip called Grantsdale, to
be
bundled with Intel's new Pentium 4 chip.
Intel also disclosed that the 64-bit feature already exists in its latest
Pentium 4 processor used in standard PCs. The 64-bit functionality, however,
will for now only be switched on for computers sold as business servers, the
company said.
Richard Doherty, the director of Seaford, New York-based Envisoneering
Group,
said he expected Intel to offer 64-bit processing in high-end consumer
computers in order to tap into an eager market already being served by AMD --
video game players.
AMD offers 64-bit chips not only for servers, but also for desktop
computers,
even though the version of Windows that can support 64-bits is not expected to
be released until later this year.
"They saw customers go to AMD, they listened hard, and now they've got a
solution," Doherty said.
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