"Breaking ranks with Intel in the video game business, Microsoft said Monday that it would use IBM's processor technology in its next-generation Xbox video game console," says the Mercury News. "It isn't clear why IBM won the business from Intel. Kevin Krewell, an analyst with Micro Design Resources, says IBM is 'hungrier' because it runs a money-losing chip business and needs high-volume chip deals to become profitable."
Comment: Both companies were apparently careful not to say that the Xbox 2 would switch from x86 chips to PowerPC, though that's the most interesting possibility. It would also be interesting to know what rights IBM still has to make x86 chips (it used to own about 20% of Intel), and whether Microsoft has been careful to keep the Windows XP kernel -- used for the Xbox operating system -- independent of the processor. In the early days of Windows New Technology, it was available for four types of processor: Mips, Alpha, PowerPC and Intel x86.
