News Articles

CNNMoney | April 13, 2007

Is Intel Ready to Ditch Windows?

As Intel (INTC) prepares for a big developer conference in Beijing next week, it is expected to upgrade its chips for ultramobile PCs. These are new class of touchscreen computers in between a laptop and a cell phone in size.

The bigger news, though, may be that the recommended user interface will not be Windows Vista. It will be Transmedia's Glide mobile Webtop instead. This is purely speculation on my part, but as I reported last October when Intel and Transmedia first announced their ultramobile-PC partnership:

Intel actually wants to make the Glide Webtop the default interface when anyone powers up an ultramobile PC. Ultimately, that would be a decision for the manufacturers, but if that is what Intel starts pushing, it could happen. Windows would still be running in the background and be just a click away. But take that logic one step further and consider this scenario: what if the ultramobile PC makers decide to go with a Linux operating system instead, and a Glide Webtop. They would still get a slick user interface optimized for a mobile experience, at a fraction of the cost.

Sounds perfect for the Chinese market. Microsoft (MSFT) would not be happy, even if ultramobile PCs are a tiny blip on their radar screen right now. What makes Glide a serious contender is that it is a true browser-based Webtop that lets you keep all of your documents, photos, music, and other files stored online, and then it transcodes everything to Flash for easy delivery to PCs and mobile devices.

Update: John Markoff from the NYT reports:

The computers foreseen by Intel, which will have 5- to 7-inch screens, will run a version of Microsoft’s Vista operating system that is designed for hand-helds, or possibly a version of the free Linux operating system. Intel has an active effort to develop a mobile version of Linux being led by a group run by Shane D. Wall, vice president for the company’s Mobility Group, according to an Intel business partner, who spoke on condition that he not be identified.

That software effort does not have the support of Mr. Otellini, who is concerned about incurring Microsoft’s wrath, the executive said. The two companies have a long history of tension over who controls the hardware and software direction of the “Wintel standard.” Intel has said it is supporting both operating systems.

Sounds like there's definitely a Linux battle going on within Intel.