The new Intel IDF format: Leap forward or fall behind?

WE PREVIEWED the new format of the Intel Developer Forum before we came out here - and now we've seen it in action. It is quite different from the others we've attended - we think we've missed only a couple over the course of the years.

The preliminary conclusions we've leaped to are that the format of the event is a little like the curate's famous egg and it is good in parts. A few years ago, the number of keynotes was so great that it gave you little time to sit down and actually write them up. And because there were so many, some of them were, frankly, superfluous.

The format this Spring was to have keynotes only on the first day, with the second and third days devoted to more technical tracks. This suited some of the more technical hacks at the show, who love the level of detail offered by briefings on instruction sets, but perhaps a little less in the way of hard news. But there's something happening inside Intel and we're not entirely sure it's just to do with the fact Kicking Pat Gelsinger has got a beard.

Andreas Stiller left, Pat Gelsinger right
What is that weird device Andreas has on his lapel?

What's clear is that Intel has rather rapidly got its act together on the CPUs it will offer in the future. And there's also no doubt that it continues to lead in process technology - underlined by its swift move to 65 nanometres and other future directions which seem to be well under way.

Serious questions have to be asked about whether AMD really has got problems with its move to 65 nanometres - perhaps relying on IBM knowhow has its limitations because the whisper is that the delays are meaningful. We would have asked AMD about this, but our meeting with Chimpzilla got canned, and that happened to other individuals here too.

We're getting the feeling, however, that some senior individuals within Intel are getting a toe or two chopped off over other matters - such as the loss of market share in the consumer market to AMD. Paul Otellini was sitting on the front row of Pat Gelsinger's keynote but didn't speak. And Eric Kim, the firms worldwide marketing man, seemed to be altogether absent from the event.

And then there's Viiv. No one still seems able to lucidly explain exactly what the idea of Viiv really is. To us, it seems to be a little bit like having the cart before the horse - unlike the Centrino branding, it is all rather vague.

Intel does seem to have got its act together on the Woodcrest, Conroe and Merom microprocessors but we suspect it's still going to take a little while before the ship rides entirely high in the water. The patches are being made to the hull, but the Good Ship Chipzilla is still in the dry dock and will be for some months.

And then there's AMD. The firm acquired a reputation over the years for having an unerring aim when it came to firing at its own foot. For the last three to four years AMD has done well. But if it doesn't start making some meaningful noises over its own 65 nanometre technology, it could well find itself in some trouble.