speed freaks

For you speed freaks, Yahoo has a story about Intel's new 64-bit Merced CPU. Most of today's speedsters are 32-bit CPUs, including the PowerPC and its future speedier incarnations. The Merced plows new ground instead of being a faster knock-off of the venerable Intel x86 CPU series. A Wall Street Journal (tree parts edition) story last Thursday reported that the Merced should do 900Mhz (today's PowerPC's hit 350 Mhz). It is slated for introduction in 1999 in servers and workstations--no word yet on how long before it will be cheap enough for everyman's desktop. Details are to be announced this week providing current speed-leader Apple a high benchmark for retaining that title.