This is the final part to this article, if you missed the previous four parts you can view it at www.jamaica-star.com.

If Intel wasn't hogging the microprocessor industry with these unlawful acts, would we have seen better competition from AMD and possibly other competitors? I have been often asked the following question quite a few times: "Is Intel processors better than AMD processors and if so, is it really that significant of a difference?"

The answer to this question can be lengthy and somewhat complicated and after reading through a tedious document explaining the difference of the two, most people may still not know which the better of the two is.

For those people who do understand the differences of the two processors' architecture, they will still form their own opinions and conclusions of which is better. So I will rather not go into the "which one is better debate". However, I will say this, the period for which processors were judged merely by clock speed (2.93HGz, 3.06GHz, 2.33GHz, etc.) has long pasted. Performances are now based on several key factors embedded in the processors' architecture.

Both Intel and AMD manufacture great chips and the differences between two comparable processors made by both manufacturers tend to be minute or not noticeable. I can reassure you that there is no difference so noticeable for Intel to be selling their high-end retail processors for up to US$1,300, while the AMD counterpart would be priced for an approximate price range of US$400-$550.

room to grow

Where does AMD go from here, they said they wanted room to operate fairly and they have got it, will they now tap into Intel's 80 per cent market share? The only way to get a definitive answer is to wait and find out. Martin Reynolds, an analyst in San José, California says he expects the global market shares between Intel and AMD to remain unchanged, unless AMD develops a new chip-feature that will give the company's microprocessors a technological advantage over Intel. But as I said, "Let's wait and see."

If all the above accusations brought against Intel are true, then the ruling is significantly important. AMD has been out there screaming for help over the last five or six years, claiming that Intel has been keeping them from getting free access to markets. Now that the EU has granted AMD free access to the market, we will now see what they have to offer the ever- changing chip market.

For questions and comments

Technical writer: Kamar McIntyre

Telephone: 849-9381

Email: kamar_mcintyre@yahoo.com