Neowin.net

Thanks Vla for the heads up on this one. Sources close to Microsoft confirm that The Beast is set to include a new relational file store at the core of its next version of Windows. Some roadmap slippage has apparently occurred, too, as the database core will be introduced into Longhorn, and Blackcomb has been pushed further back. That leaves a gap for a point revision of XP next year, although there's no sign of this on the roadmap just yet. Despite the annual revisions being named as users' number one bugbear, Microsoft hasn't let a year go by without releasing a new version of Windows since 1997, when it was fighting the browser wars. The final feature set for Longhorn - the codename for the successor to Windows XP - hasn't been nailed down yet, and the database core had been rumored for inclusion in Blackcomb, the next Windows after Longhorn. It's highly significant, as it signals a much tighter integration between Microsoft's enterprise server products and the client.

Microsoft will also offer a new peer-to-peer networking feature, say sources briefed by The Beast. A new "sub-workgroup" network level - a subset of the current "workgroup" - offers a finer granularity of network access for ad hoc collaboration. Microsoft is intent on P2P-style workgroup collaboration looks seamless, with additional updates to NetMeeting built in to the OS. The demonstration version of Longhorn currently being demoed to Microsoft's teams and selected third parties displays a new type of task dock that can include everything from stock tickers to work group collaboration features.

News source: Read more @ The Reg

Still, Intel's far smaller rival did well against Intel in 2001. AMD gained 3.5 points of the market for microprocessors last year against Intel, according to figures released this week by Mercury Research.

AMD increased its share of the microprocessor market to 20.2 percent in 2001 from 16.7 percent in 2000, while Intel closed out 2001 with 78.7 percent of the market, down from 82.2 percent during 2000.

The Athlon 4 processor 1500+ is the first mobile chip from AMD that uses a model name rather than its clock speed to distinguish it.

AMD claims that the performance of a microprocessor is determined by more than just its clock speed and should include how many transactions per minute the chip can perform, among other measures.

The company first moved to the model name branding strategy with its Athlon desktop PC processor late last year, and it introduced the Athlon 4 mobile processor in May 2001.