2/17/2000: Microsoft throws Windows 2000, the successor of NT 4.0

   In a big multimedia spectacle much to the North American style, Windows 2000 has presented today the operating system to itself, successor of Windows NT 4.0. The event was celebrated in an enormous stage that was including a gigantic "portable" computer and was provided with the presence of Patrick Stewart (captain Jean Luc Piccard in the series "Star Trek: the New Generation") and the musician Carlos Santana, that they collaborated with Bill Gates to cheer the ambience of the presentation up.
   Windows 2000 is an operating system destined for professional applications more than to the domestic user, as they testify his demanding minimal requisites: theoretically at least a Pentium 133 MHz with 64 MB of RAM and 650 MB of hard disk, although more realistic estimations speak about a Pentium II 300 MHz with 128 MB of RAM or more to achieve an acceptable yield. Some experts even augur a big increase of the demand of memory in the next months.
   The progress with regard to NT 4.0 is multiple: support much improved for portable computers (especially as for electrical consumption), support of new technologies like USB, ports of infrared and IEEE 1394, diverse safety progress (with encriptación of 128 bits), you improve in the multimedia support (it includes the DirectX 7) and of Internet (the minor of them, Internet Explorer 5.0), a facility of handling at a height of Windows 98 and, especially, an exceptional stability: if we have to believe Mr. Gates, a system with Windows 2000 "is not" "hung" having to begin again not after 90 days, opposite to 5,2 days for Windows NT 4.0 and 2,1 days for Windows 95 (although of being like that: how have they had the audacity of selling till now NT as a stable operating system?).
   Despite these advances, already there have arisen the first critical voices that complain about an alarming absence of drivers to give support to many devices (videocards, DVD-ROMs, escáners...) or of the scarce optimization of the included ones; of the possibility that they exist up to 63.000 possible errors (something denied by Microsoft, which nevertheless admits that in a few months the first collection of "patches" will leave for Windows 2000); and finally of his high price (approximately 300 dollars the "Professional", cheapest and simple version; 200 dollars that of update from Windows 95/98; and 1.000 dollars the version "Server").

2/16/2000: Willamette (Pentium IV?), Timna, RDRAM, DDR... welcome to IDF

   It is not possible to deny that the first day of Intel Developer Forum (IDF) has fulfilled the expectations of the assistants to the meeting celebrated in the famous locality of Palm Springs, California. The principal announcements were centred environment to three of the future microprocessors Intel: Willamette, Timna and Itanium.
   The star was perhaps Willamette, which might receive the trade name of Pentium IV; based on a different nucleus to used in the current Pentium II - III and Celeron, he supposes the following evolutionary jump of the architecture IA-32 (architecture Intel of 32 bits). It will use a 400 MHz bus (in fact - very probably - of 100 ó 200 MHz "doubled" to the DDR or AGP 2x/4x), will present 144 new instructions (SSE2) and the clock speed double for the ALU arithmetical-logical (unit of points). A model presented before himself working neither more nor less than to 1,5 GHz (1.500 MHz), what seems to confirm the intentions of Intel of throwing this chip with speeds "from 1 GHz". His throwing is waited by the end of year.
   For his part, Timna will be the first "system in a chip" of Intel, on having included the controler of memory, the graphic controler and the cache memory L2 together with a nucleus similar to the current ones. One hopes that the teams with this mike should sell below 600 dollars.
   Finally, Itanium, the first mike IA-64 (of 64 bits) of Intel, was endorsed by eight of the biggest manufacturers of PCs of the world: Bull, Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens, Hewlett Packard, IBM, NEC and SGI. It was confirmed that it will enter production in the middle of this year, with an initial speed of approximately 800 MHz.
   Of between many others realized announcements we might emphasize the incorporation to the futures chipsets Intel of the standard USB 2.0 (that allows speeds even 40 times major than the current version 1.1), advance in the transferences for hard disk (UltraDMA-100, Serial Ties) and the progressive implantation of the memory RDRAM, although it will keep on using SDRAM (PC100/PC133) for the low scale: and the memory DDR will be implanted in the servants!, something that collides frontalmente with the supposed need for memory RDRAM to support high yields...

2/16/2000: Toshiba reduces the size of the RDRAM to reduce his cost


   The division of electronic components of the multinational Toshiba has announced a new architecture for his chips RDRAM of 288 Mbits that will allow to reduce his size in 8 %, what will be translated in a minor cost of these chips of high capacity that in the future will be used for modules RIMM (modules of memory RDRAM) of up to 512 MB.
   Asímismo, thanks to this advance and the 0,175 microns process used by Toshiba, one hopes that the production of these chips and those of minor capacities (256 and 128 Mb not ECC and 144 Mb ECC) should be very high and relatively economic.
   Toshiba is one of the principal guardians of the memory RDRAM, which despite the explicit Intel patronage has not been well received for the market due to his difficulty of manufacture and very high cost. It is outstanding the fact that although the RDRAM must work to the 800 MHz equivalent to reach the wished transference of 1,6 GB/s, few manufacturers have managed to reach successfully this speed... and Toshiba is one of them.

2/14/2000: New super-Celeron for portable

   In this so special date, Intel has presented three new models of microprocessors who safely will win the love of the users of portable. The new chips, to 500, 450 and 400 MHz, despite be commercializing under the mark "Celeron" incorporate very interesting innovations that they differ from the previous models.
   Apart from habitual 128 KB of cache memory L2 integrated, these mikes use a 100 MHz bus (instead of 66 MHz), they include the instructions SSE of Pentium III, and they are made by a 0,18 microns process, thanks to which his consumption and heat generation are much minor. This is especially outstanding in the 400 MHz model with limited voltage, which works to only 1,35V and does not generate any more than 4,2W.
   The price of these mikes turns out to be other of his attractions, since they will sell to themselves to 134, 96 and 96 dollars respectively (in quantities of 1.000 units), a relation cost / yield frankly attractive.