| heruamon said: It's a good move for M$ if true, since ATI/AMD needs to money, and will therefore be more willing to offer a better deal, but I'm curious as to the CPU...is it going to be the same, or is it going to shift to AMD or Intel. |
In the times of Win 9x and before, x86 legacy was synergic with MS legacy to tie users, but now, with much more complex OS', providing a strong tie by themselves, CPU legacy is only a burden, MS wouldn't be wise to come back to x86 where it managed to get rid of. Current top end of POWER architecture, that will be mainstream in a few years, goes far beyond top end x86. Not mentioning the fact that Intel did a huge leap just when it managed to put its grubby paws on Alpha abandoned projects: those in the drawers went up to 2010 for the furthest and less detailed, who knows whether it will still be able to have a development so fast when that reserve of pure genius will be exhausted.
Edit: AMD could be a competitive choice, but it could need some help for productive capacity, particularly if XB720 manages to be more successful than MS could predict, and with the end of the crisis, the reduction of components cost and the growth of average income in emerging countries, every next gen console could be more successful than initially predicted.
