"warmachine" writes:
Intel won't stand for Microsoft controlling hardware to this level. Microsoft could buy or bribe some other company but surely no rival has the required manufacturing capacity.
Well, according to this bit from Tom's [link|http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/01q4/011031/xpvsp4-15.html|Athlon - Pentium 4 comparison test]:
In comparison to the past, the Athlon XP can profit from Windows XP, probably more than Intel CPUs. It seems that AMD helped Microsoft get the optimum out of its new CPUs.
...AMD?