THE END OF A cunning Intel plan to develop an X86-64 microprocessor is not yet nigh, according to sources a micron away from the chip giant. The secret project – first revealed here in the INQUIRER and codenamed "Yamhill" – has however, metamorphosed since the early days, with some Intel politics muddying the water.
Those particular politics led to Intel positioning its future "Prescott" processor as a sort of consumery desktop Clawhammer killer at the Developer Forum held in San Jose in February. The project is now, according to sources, codenamed *T – that's right, with an asterisk, with a secret chip developed straight from the X86-64 specification.
This is kind of an insurance policy on Intel's behalf. AMD's current troubles which can be summed up in the phrase "no cash", have given Chipzilla a breathing space, and it hopes that Hector and his gang won't be able to pull the proverbial Clawhammer-Rabbit out of its magic hat. Intel's insurance policy remains firmly in place, however, but the one thing it definitely wants is to distance any project like this from its beloved Itanium platform, which will chug on regardless.
News source: The Inq
