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Intel Claims Desktops Shipping With 'VT' CPUs

Intel said this week that some PC manufacturers have started delivering desktop PCs based on the first CPUs that implement its Virtualization Technology (VT). The vendors identified by Intel include Acer and Lenovo.

Introduced earlier this year, Intel’s VT enables a single CPU or a platform of multiple CPUs to run multiple operating systems or applications in independent partitions or “containers.” At that time, Intel said it would ship Pentium 4s with VT during 2005.

The ability to configure multiple partitions on a PC can be used to improve manageability by, for example, providing support for legacy applications, while IT staffers are testing new operating environments. Additionally, administrators can protect users from malicious code or viruses by filtering network traffic through a separate IT partition before it reaches the user, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel said in a statement.

Intel said it expects broad support among system vendors in the first quarter of 2006. The other two OEMs that Intel said are already shipping systems based on the new Pentium 4 chips are Founder and TongFang.

The Intel Pentium 4 processor 672 costs $605 in quantities of 1,000, while the 662 costs $401, also in 1,000-unit lots.

About the Author

Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.

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