AMD really made Intel sweat there for a while... Originally Intel's vision of 64 bit was the Itanium, with NO backwards compatibility for 32 bit... Then AMD came out with their x86-64 extensions, which allowed you to run both on the same chip. And at the same time, more computing power per MHz, getting more done at a lower clockspeed and thereby lower temperatures and energy usage.
Intel quietly implemented the AMD 64-bit extensions in their own offerings, becoming a follower instead of a leader. Their multi-billion investments in the Itanium line haven't quite had the expected results for them.
It's good to have two large companies neck-on-neck, the consumer wins.
Intel quietly implemented the AMD 64-bit extensions in their own offerings, becoming a follower instead of a leader. Their multi-billion investments in the Itanium line haven't quite had the expected results for them.
It's good to have two large companies neck-on-neck, the consumer wins.