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Intel may be planning to sue Microsoft for its plans to include x86 emulation in Windows 10 for ARM machines:
In celebrating the x86 architecture's 39th birthday yesterday—the 8086 processor first came to market on June 8, 1978—Intel took the rather uncelebratory step of threatening any company working on x86 emulator technology.
[...] The post doesn't name any names, but it's not too hard to figure out who it's likely to be aimed at: Microsoft, perhaps with a hint of Qualcomm. Later in the year, companies including Asus, HP, and Lenovo will be releasing Windows laptops using Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 processor. This is not the first time that Windows has been released on ARM processors—Microsoft's first attempt to bring Windows to ARM was the ill-fated Windows 8-era Windows RT in 2012—but this time around there's a key difference. Windows RT systems could not run any x86 applications. Windows 10 for ARM machines, however, will include a software-based x86 emulator that will provide compatibility with most or all 32-bit x86 applications.
This compatibility makes these ARM-based machines a threat to Intel in a way that Windows RT never was; if WinARM can run Wintel software but still offer lower prices, better battery life, lower weight, or similar, Intel's dominance of the laptop space is no longer assured. The implication of Intel's post is that the chip giant isn't just going to be relying on technology to secure its position in this space, but the legal system, too.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 10 2017, @04:40PM (3 children)
More innovation stifling patent wars. So they going to sue everyone else too? ( like QEMU? )
I haven't been fond of Intel since they killed the ix432. Growing to hate them over the years, much like microsoft and oracle.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 10 2017, @05:09PM
I haven't been fond of Intel since they put in backdoors into their products so that they could make sure that mmmaaallleeesss don't have wrongthought about cute young girls vs THICCCC ADULT PROUD WOMYN
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday June 10 2017, @09:26PM (1 child)
Intel already licensed this tech and its instruction set to AMD, and IBM So it hasn't been exclusive for a long time, and the instruction set is pretty much in the public domain, except for recent additions. But even those could emulated in RISK environments for a slight speed loss. Every compiler in the world generates this code.
I think Intel would lose this case.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by BK on Sunday June 11 2017, @02:17AM
Well, patents run 20 years around here... 1997 puts us back to the 'Pentium' type x86 instructions +/-. I'm guessing there's been a few new developments since then. M$ may have included some of those.
Presumably, M$ hasn't purchased such a license. If Intel sells licenses on this tech, that means that they've retained exclusive control. Of course, with patents, (unlike trademarks,) that doesn't actually matter.
That's copyright. It isn't about the code a compiler might generate, it's about the machine on which that compiled code can run.
...but you HAVE heard of me.