Konrad and ALL: Article...Intel improves speed with Software...
wired.com
Intel Speeds the Way, sans Silicon
by Chris Oakes
5:02amÿÿ14.May.97.PDT No doubt Intel wants its finger in every computer-related pie. The chipmaking titan is at work on another way to make PCs - which are most likely to have its post-fab silicon inside - faster by speeding up the launching of applications under Windows.
Application Launch Accelerator is a software technology that reduces the lag time between the mouse's doubleclick and the start of work or play. But ALA is more than a mere utility; it is another way in which Intel is working beyond its chipmaking niche. With software, Intel's Oregon-based platform architecture lab is working on ways to speed up the overall performance of a PC - or, at the very least, reduce the amount of time a user waits for an operation to take place.
"We spend a lot of time analyzing the platform and identifying what points are currently bottlenecks," said Rick Colson, director of the lab's I/O architecture efforts. "In this case, application files were being read insequentially, requiring lot of seeks. Reorganizing the data resulted in sustained transfer rate of 2.5 to 3 Mbps instead of 0.68 Mbps."
The upshot: "Applications launch two to four times faster," said Colson, citing the launch of Netscape Navigator, which he said was accelerated three times.
ALA's technique only affects the efficiency of application launch data since it requires that the data sequence in question be predeterministic.
The final form of the technology, which is compatible with next-generation versions of Windows, is not yet determined. Intel would not comment on reports that ALA would be a component of Memphis, the upcoming revision of Windows 95.
While the vendor benefiting from Intel's research is the developer of the platform's very OS, spokeswoman Diana Wilson said the company has no intention to start competing in the system-level utility market.
"We want to work with industry - we're not in the business to upset people," she said.
______________________________________________________
Maybe an operating system is next :-)
Michael |
