“Big Blue may incorporate low-power chip to build an eight-hour
notebook.”
“IBM will begin testing the waters to determine whether its
customers will adopt an IBM ThinkPad powered by Transmeta’s Crusoe
processor, beginning with a demo of one of the laptops running
Windows 2000 at the PC Expo show in New York next week.”
“Leo Suarez, director of IBM’s worldwide product marketing, says
the first prototype is a stock IBM ThinkPad model 240 that has
undergone no special modification to incorporate the Crusoe
processor. The ultralow-power chip has gained much attention since
being introduced by Transmeta in January. … “Over the next couple
of months we will talk with customers and gauge their interest, and
if we determine the customer feedback is positive, and our
engineers can reach the set of criteria we are trying to get to, we
will have a formal announcement of the ThinkPad with Transmeta chip
sometime in the second half of this year,” Suarez says.”
“Until now, most performance benchmarks done on the Crusoe
processor have been run on Linux. Going with Windows 2000 required
no special tuning to make the hardware and software
compatible, Suarez says. Choosing Windows was a response to
customer preferences, he adds.”