April 08, 2009

Intel's Atom chips to support Windows 7 this year

The support will ensure devices like netbooks can run some versions of Microsoft's new operating system

Intel plans to make sure all of its popular Atom microprocessors support at least two versions of Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 7, in the second half of this year.

The chip maker will implant support for the Starter and Basic editions of Windows 7 in Atom, Anand Chandrasekher, Intel’s head of Ultra Mobility said at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Beijing on Wednesday.

[ Intel also announced at IDF two new Atom microprocessors. | Stay ahead of advances in hardware technology with InfoWorld's Ahead of the Curve blog and newsletter. ]

Intel designed Atom microprocessors for mobile devices such as netbooks, which are down-sized laptops, as well as small, handheld computers it calls mobile Internet devices (MIDs).

The chips will also support the newest version of the Linux OS that Intel developed for small devices, Moblin v2.0. The alpha version of Moblin v2.0 is already available on the moblin.org Web site.

Microsoft’s Windows XP Home and Windows Vista Basic will continue to be supported by Atom microprocessors in the second half, Intel said.

Read more about hardware in InfoWorld's Hardware Channel.

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