AMD ventures into dual-core

Intel and AMD have launched their dual-core processors and plan to shift the focus completely to them in future. AMD India has launched its 64-bit, dual-core server and workstation solutions for enterprise users. AMD has also launched the Athlon 64 x2 dual-core processor for PCs. Vendors like Sun, HP, IBM, Wipro, and HCL will provide the enterprise support for AMD processors.

As the single-core processor has almost reached its physical limits of possible speed, multi-core processing has become a growing industry trend. Processor makers have started shifting to dual-core processors to avoid the technical snags they hit with current single-core variants.

Software companies are examining how software-licensing policies will adapt to this new technology. Microsoft and AMD agree that server software that is currently licensed on a per-processor model should continue as such, and not on a per-core model. Customers who use software from vendors that license by individual core, as other software vendors currently do, may face increased software costs when they upgrade to multicore processor systems.