Event
Summary
1/3/2001 [Source: CNET]
Computer chip manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices. Inc., (AMD),
in an attempt to reduce software development time for its future 64-bit
CPU, called "Sledgehammer", is rumored to be sending systems to software
developers. What is different about these systems is that they will use
the "Crusoe" processor and special "code morphing" software produced by
Transmeta, a rival to both AMD and Intel Corporation.
Market
Impact
This
may help AMD reduce the gap between release of the Sledgehammer processor
and release of compatible third-party software. AMD apparently believes
that Transmeta's software can simulate the behavior of Sledgehammer more
effectively than AMD's own simulation software. Typically, there can be
a six-to-12-month development cycle for software designed to run on a
new processor. AMD hopes it can reduce this "lag" - normally there is
a time gap between the hardware and software releases. There has even
been speculation that applications may be available by the time Sledgehammer
starts shipping, currently slated for the first half of 2002. Although
most of the corporate-market-focused industry is gearing up for Intel's
Itanium processor, this development may encourage vendors to commit resources
to Sledgehammer.
One
area of uncertainty is Windows. Microsoft is still not officially
committed to writing any software for this product. Until MS does that,
Sledgehammer will be viewed as a Linux-only processor - not good, if you
want to capture the corporate market. (Before Linux-philes complain: we
have no problem vis-a-vis Linux, but it's currently only a serious
competitor in the server market. Since AMD has only a modest - at best
- server presence in the corporate market, this is problematic. Although
Sledgehammer is geared toward servers, AMD needs to be able to provide
servers in the four-CPU market, something they can't do at present.) We
expect AMD's business folks will do whatever it takes to get MS on board.
User
Recommendations
Users who believe "Intel first, last, and always" will have no interest
in this announcement.
Users
willing to consider an AMD 64-bit processor - especially if Itanium slips
much more - will want to keep in touch with AMD's progress in this arena.
A 64-bit processor which can run legacy 32-bit applications provides some
compelling economies for companies on a tight upgrade budget.
The
caveat, as mentioned before, is that Microsoft may not "get on
board" until very late. Although it is probably in MS's best interests
to be compatible, they may decide it is better to stick with Intel. This
would not be a killing blow, but it would certainly make it that much
more difficult for AMD to gain respectable market share. Although Linux
has grabbed a sizeable chunk of server market shipments in the past two
years, it is not clear that running Linux-only is a winning sell against
Intel (which can run both Windows and Linux).