How is the Crusoe processor different from todays mobile processors from Intel and AMD?
Today’s Intel and AMD mobile processors are really desktop processors that have been derated for the mobile market and as such, they represent the culmination of several generations of increasingly burdensome hardware complexity. While these processors have been the driving force behind desktop computing since the 1970s, they have shown their limitations in mobile computers as they become smaller and smaller and have had to make tradeoffs between performance, excessive heat, and battery life. Transmeta believes, as do a number of industry experts, that a new architectural approach is needed in order for the mobile computing market to reach its full potential. One such expert, John Hennessey, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Stanford University, confirmed this trend when he said, “Microprocessor designers need to adopt fresh techniques and new kinds of metrics to align their work with the coming “post-desktop era.” He continued, “Requirements for compact, lo
