Intel Ditches X86S Initiative After Joining Forces With Industry Giants

In the ever-evolving world of computer processors, the X86 instruction set architecture (ISA) is often accused of being a bit “old school” – but it’s still the heavyweight champ for desktops, laptops, and servers. So when Intel announced its X86S initiative, aiming to trim down the ISA by cutting out outdated 16- and 32-bit features, and some legacy functions, we all took notice. That is, until it was announced that the whole project is now toast.

The reason? Intel’s cosy new partnership with the likes of AMD, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft, and even Meta. Together, they’ve formed an advisory group to tackle future changes and improvements to the ISA collaboratively, rather than each company running off doing their own thing. So, while X86S might be dead, the ideas behind it could still pop up in future processors – just in a more unified, less controversial way.

Let’s face it: ARM’s been making some serious moves lately, and it’s clear that if Intel and AMD want to keep ahead of the game, playing nice is the way to go. For us consumers, this should mean fewer surprises, like those random features that break compatibility between new Intel and AMD chips (we’re looking at you, 90s). So, the next time a new CPU lands, it’ll likely play nice with the rest of the ecosystem – a welcome change from the old CPU wars.

This is a big win for the tech world. Cooperation over competition, and a smoother ride ahead. Can we get a “lekker” for that?

Source Info: https://hackaday.com/2024/12/21/intel-terminates-x86s-initiative-after-formation-of-new-industry-group/