All,
I got the latest PC Magazine in the mail today. There is an article about Windows CE machines, "Desperately Seeking a CPU." It says that Hitachi is introducing a new Windows CE CPU called the SH-4 that delivers 360 MIPS at 200 Mhz; at about the same performance level as a Pentium Pro chip. It goes on to say that VLSI is using the SH-4 as a core in a system-on-a-chip design based around a PCI bus. Hitachi and VLSI are targeting the solution at Home Entertainment Systems (HES), and project 20,000,000 systems built around their chip in the year 2000. The first systems will debut in early 1998.
This sounds like it could be big competition for NSM/Cyrix. Many of these comsumer appliances will not need full windows capability. But, what's really starting to bug me is this: What if Microsoft decides to port Windows to the SH-4 and its decendents? Of course, SH-4 and SH-4 compatible producers would not need an Intel cross license.
With these sorts of developments taking place, it seems that Microsoft always looks like a potential winner and Intel always looks like a potential loser. I wonder when we'll see the day when Microsoft gets a crack in their monopoly. Someone needs to come along with a Windows compatible OS that is targeted at XCs. But, at this point, that looks like Windows CE.
Pravin. |
