http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/01/nvidias-project-denver-cpu-puts-the-nail-in-wintels-coffin.ars

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2011/01/windows-8-to-come-in-arm-soc-flavors.ars

M$ announces Windows 8 will run on x86 and ARM chips. Nvidia announces they are making a ARM based chip for servers and workstations that can run it.

This is really big. Not too many people expected MS to announce that, and Nvidia has been rumored to be making an x86 chip, but this is totally out of the blue for them. The major trick for them is to get it working with their graphics as well as Intel does with theirs. If they do, they will kill Intel in a lot of markets.

1/6/2011 2:51:48 PM

long live x86

1/6/2011 2:56:26 PM

I think it's true use is in it's current form - as a subprocessor. With win8 I expect (hope?) for tighter integration between the various processing forms inside my box. Tie them together, intelligently decide who does what best, and don't pigeon-hole me into having to certain programs run in certain places.

I think of it more like the jump from CS4 to CS5. CS5 grew leaps and bounds with CUDA support, but it's just as good on your regular processor. Take them in tandem, however, and you've got crazy priced processing power (thanks, quadro/tesla.)

1/6/2011 3:01:15 PM