IBM opens up Power processors

摘要

IBM hopes to do for its Power processor what it helped do for Linux: create a bigger market, in which lots of vendors can play, and earn more money for IBM in the process. At an event in Barcelona earlier this month, the company announced that 11 new members have joined Power.org, a consortium set up in December for organizations developing Power-based chips, systems, software and tools. IBM also said it would release the main specifications for the Power-based Cell processor, which it developed with Sony and Toshiba. The Power.org meeting came a few days after Apple announced that it will phase out PowerPC chips from its Macintosh computers and switch to Intel processors instead. The timing was unfortunate for IBM and did little to promote its message that Power is a chip for all systems, from supercomputers to PCs and handheld devices.