MS sets standards with XP-Tablet

John Lettice of The Register writes an interesting piece with the premise that Intel Corp. may someday regret its successful effort to replace Advanced Micro Device's Athlon with its own chip in Microsoft Corp's Xbox game console. By coming into the design process late, Intel's usual position as lead member or co-specifier in the design team was forfeit. Then, when Microsoft used Transmeta chips for XP-Tablet demo units, Intel once again convinced Microsoft to use its product, but only after the choice was made to support both Intel and Transmeta Corp. chips. Lettice speculates that, if Microsoft's vision of computer future comes to pass where tablets replace other PCs, Intel may have just been replaced as the controller of the standard.

The source article is at theregister.co.uk.