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Apparently, if you'd believe the Linux community, you'd be hard-pressed upon where to place the blame. You see, the Linuxist Manifesto's number one rule is to lie to protect the best interests of Linux. No self-respectable Linux zealot would insult or place blame upon AMD, because AMD's philosophy centers around tackling American Corporations with their Asian sweatshops, selling their chips at bargain-basement prices like the Red Menace Commies do with their Wal-Mart shit.

So, right about now, you're probably thinking that the zealots are clearly in a dilemma. Who are they going to blame? If you have a prediction before I tell you, the poll is on the right. Or maybe the left. Either way, take your pick.

You'd think that the parasitic community would place blame upon Microsoft, right? Alas, Microsoft has had the bug patched since September 2000. Not only that, Windows XP , the latest in the suite of high-powered, stable operating systems from Microsoft Corp., has this patch built in. That's right, built in. Keep in mind that Windows XP was released in October 2001, over three months ago. Meanwhile, no one knows what the hell Alan Cocks has been doing since then, since he hides under the cloak of secrecy. nVidia has been informing users via tech support, even to the Linux community, how to fix the problem for months now. Clearly the blame is upon Alan Cocks's shoulder, but to place the blame where it is rightfully justified is inexcusable in the Linux community. The drones are in disarray.

The actual bug occurs when Linux users contract the Tux Racer virus via KEmail. When first run, Tux Racer enables a feature in your third-world sweatshop AMD processor called "extended paging." Now, I know you're probably thinking that this sounds like some sort of Nokia feature. Well, you're wrong. It's yet another feature that AMD illegally hacked from Intel. It allows your browser to seamlessly view pages up to 4Mb in size. Before its introduction in the early days of the Intel Pentium processor, web pages were broken up into 4K segments, because any pages larger would freeze the computer. That's why Microsoft didn't invent Javascript until after the Pentium, every time they went to use it, their pages exceeded 4K, and henceforth froze the computer. Intel came to the rescue with the Pentium line of chips, and, as usual, AMD got out their super high tech Asian hacking tools and "reverse-engineered" (code-name for 'illegally hacked') Intel's technology. Thus, users of the inferior AMD Cyrix Kx86-2 Now! processor could also view large web pages without crashing. So why did no one notice that pages larger than 4K would crash AMD processors? Well, Microsoft has had a fix for 16 months, like we mentioned earlier. But why did no one from the Linux community notice? Well, apparently, there does not exist a page devoted to Linux that is more than 4K in size. Since most of the Linux installations out there denounce color as 'feature bloat,' all Linux pages follow an unwritten oath to suck. Believe me, they all do.

So, for the good of Linux, you may now disperse. Head off to various tech sites and continue blaming Microsoft for not telling you sooner. Your community will thank you.

Wow, what a bunch of FUD. I've never had a thermal problem, never had a "fragile core" and never suffered from "inadquate compiler support", whatever that is. My new XP system seems to get stuck every now and then, but it's a new system and I've probably done something stupid like make my swap file much too large. My k6/2s and my Athlon perfom better than their more expensive Intel counterparts. According to reviews the XP system sould work just fine when I finish ironing it out. Other people have made it work and so it will work for me too. AMD does math cheap and better than Intel. Gaming? That's not my bag, but others are reporting good results.

When you look at the support AMD gives the Widoze world, you have to remember that those who suffer under M$ OS NEED the help. Just check out the utilities offered at their site. AMD CPUID? cpuinfo gets that for me. They rushed out with the goofey win2k utility because Windoze users can't pass information like, "no_pentium" to their kernel or recompile it. I'm no kernel hacker, but the AMD documentation site looks informative.

Yeah, they could have been nicer about it, but I'm not about to give up on AMD over a video bug. The short answer is that this looks like an error of ommision that could occur in any large organization. The folks in the Windoze software branch, asside from having goog feelings toward M$ by the nature of their jobs, might not know who to contact to get the word out to the Linux world. Does AMD even have a Linux division?

We're often treated as a minority because we are.

Another beautiful flame disguised as advocacy. It's neither true nor right. There are now more Linux developers than there are M$. I refuse to accept immoral or offensive behavior for myself, a minority of one. Fortunatly, there seems to be none of that here, at least not intentionally.

Wow, what a bunch of FUD. I've never had a thermal problem, never had a "fragile core" and never suffered from "inadquate compiler support", whatever that is. My new XP system seems to get stuck every now and then, but it's a new system and I've probably done something stupid like make my swap file much too large. My k6/2s and my Athlon perfom better than their more expensive Intel counterparts. According to reviews the XP system sould work just fine when I finish ironing it out. Other people have made it work and so it will work for me too. AMD does math cheap and better than Intel. Gaming? That's not my bag, but others are reporting good results.

When you look at the support AMD gives the Widoze world, you have to remember that those who suffer under M$ OS NEED the help. Just check out the utilities offered at their site. AMD CPUID? cpuinfo gets that for me. They rushed out with the goofey win2k utility because Windoze users can't pass information like, "no_pentium" to their kernel or recompile it. I'm no kernel hacker, but the AMD documentation site looks informative.

Yeah, they could have been nicer about it, but I'm not about to give up on AMD over a video bug. The short answer is that this looks like an error of ommision that could occur in any large organization. The folks in the Windoze software branch, asside from having goog feelings toward M$ by the nature of their jobs, might not know who to contact to get the word out to the Linux world. Does AMD even have a Linux division?

We're often treated as a minority because we are.

Another beautiful flame disguised as advocacy. It's neither true nor right. There are now more Linux developers than there are M$. I refuse to accept immoral or offensive behavior for myself, a minority of one. Fortunatly, there seems to be none of that here, at least not intentionally.

Take a look at page 7 of the AMD AthlonTM Processor Model 6 Revision Guide.

Guess the hackers missed this one...

Basically, if you run "cat /proc/cpuinfo" and see these:

cpu family: 6
model : 6
stepping : 2

Then you should be safe.

Basically, if you run "cat /proc/cpuinfo" and see these:

cpu family: 6
model : 6
stepping : 2

Then you should be safe.

From AMD's website:

Note: This patch is not needed for Windows XP

AFAICT from AMDs Technical Resources, the patch is all there is. So AMD is infact concealing the bug, trying to make it look like a tiny "registry problem".

Sorry, but that was a bad move, guys. Much worse than the Pentium bug thingy, which was rather theoretical, anyway.

Some or all Durons might be affected too, but I didn't look at that closely.

The above hinges on whether this is the correct bug description, feel free
to flame the anonymous coward if this has got nothing to do with it :)

"16 INVLPG Instruction Does Not Flush Entire Four-Megabyte Page Properly with Certain Linear Addresses

Normal Specified Operation. After executing an INVLPG instruction the TLB should not contain any
translations for any part of the page frame associated with the designated logical address.

Non-conformance. When the logical address designated by the INVLPG instruction is mapped by a 4-MB
page mapping and LA[21] is equal to one it is possible that the TLB will still retain translations after
the instruction has finished executing.

Potential Effect on System. The residual data in the TLB can result in unexpected data access to stale or
invalid pages of memory.

Suggested Workaround. When using the INVLPG instruction in association with a page that is mapped via
a 4-MB page translation, always clear bit 21."

(page 7 from Athlon Model 6 revision sheet)

MShaft: "Not-a-bug-it's-a-feature"

Intel: "Not a bug it's erratum."

VIA: "We slowed it down to keep it cool."

Nvidia: "That was a leak! We are not doing public driver beta testing!"

ATI "Who the hell plays Quack3?"

AMD "the patch is here"

Funny, I knew something was wrong...

To me, this looks like AMD doesn't give a rats ass about its customers customers who use linux.

It seems some people are missing an important point: it's gonna be awhile. Not only does the process have to develop to something efficient (right now it's "beta", so to speak), but the chip people have to create the new design, and market it, and so on. During this time, we can expect faster hard drives and bus speeds. The key is not only faster hard drives and bus speeds to go with a 10GHz chip, but a smaller margin between bus speed/hard drive speed and the CPU.

My problem with OS X (Or is it 10.1, or X.1) is... (Drum roll please)

It's too slow! Okay, so that's just an immediate problem and will be fixed with beefier hardware. If OS X ran on X86 hardware, it would be great since fast processors are plentiful and cheap. (Enough with the "Is there an echo in here?" jokes! I know the OS X on X86 comment is more overplayed than the latest Brittany Spears song!) Before you go off and comment that I've probably only used a Mac at the local CompUSA for 5 minutes while my friend is on a quest for the super-secret hidden location of the public restrooms, well, you'd be right. However, I also own a Mac too.

Granted, it is an iMac 500MHz G3 with 256MB of RAM, which would be considered "entry level" in the Mac world. Would a top-of-the-line G4 have more snap when running OS X? You bet - I tried one of those out too at CompUSA (the bathrooms must be REALLY hard to find, cause my friend was gone FOREVER). The G4s run OS X great, and for a brief moment in time, I felt like this OS had a real chance - until I returned to reality and realized how it runs on the system I was able to afford.

My only hope is that the Apple fairy comes in the night and sprinkles some speedup dust on my iMac - otherwise getting $800 for it on eBay is starting to look really good. That money could get me a REALLY nice Athlon XP barebones system.

I Wish I had written it. Enjoy!

As an enlightened, modern parent, I try to be as involved as possible in the lives of my six children. I encourage them to join team sports. I attend their teen parties with them to ensure no drinking or alcohol is on the premises. I keep a fatherly eye on the CDs they listen to and the shows they watch, the company they keep and the books they read. You could say I'm a model parent. My children have never failed to make me proud, and I can say without the slightest embellishment that I have the finest family in the USA.

Two years ago, my wife Carol and I decided that our children's education would not be complete without some grounding in modern computers. To this end, we bought our children a brand new Compaq to learn with. The kids had a lot of fun using the handful of application programs we'd bought, such as Adobe's Photoshop and Microsoft's Word, and my wife and I were pleased that our gift was received so well. Our son Peter was most entranced by the device, and became quite a pro at surfing the net. When Peter began to spend whole days on the machine, I became concerned, but Carol advised me to calm down, and that it was only a passing phase. I was content to bow to her experience as a mother, until our youngest daughter, Cindy, charged into the living room one night to blurt out: "Peter is a computer hacker!"

As you can imagine, I was amazed. A computer hacker in my own house! I began to monitor my son's habits, to make certain that Cindy wasn't just telling stories, as she is prone to doing at times.

After a few days of investigation, and some research into computer hacking, I confronted Peter with the evidence. I'm afraid to say, this was the only time I have ever been truly disappointed in one of my children. We raised them to be honest and to have integrity, and Peter betrayed the principles we tried to encourage in him, when he refused point blank to admit to his activities. His denials continued for hours, and in the end, I was left with no choice but to ban him from using the computer until he is old enough to be responsible for his actions.

After going through this ordeal with my own family, I was left pondering how I could best help others in similar situations. I'd gained a lot of knowledge over those few days regarding hackers. It's only right that I provide that information to other parents, in the hope that they will be able to tell if their children are being drawn into the world of hacking. Perhaps other parents will be able to steer their sons back onto the straight and narrow before extreme measures need to be employed.

To this end, I have decided to publish the top ten signs that your son is a hacker. I advise any parents to read this list carefully and if their son matches the profile, they should take action. A smart parent will first try to reason with their son, before resorting to groundings, or even spanking. I pride myself that I have never had to spank a child, and I hope this guide will help other parents to put a halt to their son's misbehaviour before a spanking becomes necessary.

1. Has your son asked you to change ISPs?

Most American families use trusted and responsible Internet Service Providers, such as AOL. These providers have a strict "No Hacking" policy, and take careful measures to ensure that your internet experience is enjoyable, educational and above all legal. If your child is becoming a hacker, one of his first steps will be to request a change to a more hacker friendly provider.

I would advise all parents to refuse this request. One of the reasons your son is interested in switching providers is to get away from AOL's child safety filter. This filter is vital to any parent who wants his son to enjoy the internet without the endangering him through exposure to "adult" content. It is best to stick with the protection AOL provides, rather than using a home-based solution. If your son is becoming a hacker, he will be able to circumvent any home-based measures with surprising ease, using information gleaned from various hacker sites.

2. Are you finding programs on your computer that you don't remember installing?

Your son will probably try to install some hacker software. He may attempt to conceal the presence of the software in some way, but you can usually find any new programs by reading through the programs listed under "Install/Remove Programs" in your control panel. Popular hacker software includes "Comet Cursor", "Bonzi Buddy" and "Flash".

The best option is to confront your son with the evidence, and force him to remove the offending programs. He will probably try to install the software again, but you will be able to tell that this is happening, if your machine offers to "download" one of the hacker applications. If this happens, it is time to give your son a stern talking to, and possibly consider punishing him with a grounding.

3. Has your child asked for new hardware?

Computer hackers are often limited by conventional computer hardware. They may request "faster" video cards, and larger hard drives, or even more memory. If your son starts requesting these devices, it is possible that he has a legitimate need. You can best ensure that you are buying legal, trustworthy hardware by only buying replacement parts from your computer's manufacturer.

If your son has requested a new "processor" from a company called "AMD", this is genuine cause for alarm. AMD is a third-world based company who make inferior, "knock-off" copies of American processor chips. They use child labor extensively in their third world sweatshops, and they deliberately disable the security features that American processor makers, such as Intel, use to prevent hacking. AMD chips are never sold in stores, and you will most likely be told that you have to order them from internet sites. Do not buy this chip! This is one request that you must refuse your son, if you are to have any hope of raising him well.

4. Does your child read hacking manuals?

If you pay close attention to your son's reading habits, as I do, you will be able to determine a great deal about his opinions and hobbies. Children are at their most impressionable in the teenage years. Any father who has had a seventeen year old daughter attempt to sneak out on a date wearing make up and perfume is well aware of the effect that improper influences can have on inexperienced minds.

There are, unfortunately, many hacking manuals available in bookshops today. A few titles to be on the lookout for are: "Snow Crash" and "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson; "Neuromancer" by William Gibson; "Programming with Perl" by Timothy O'Reilly; "Geeks" by Jon Katz; "The Hacker Crackdown" by Bruce Sterling; "Microserfs" by Douglas Coupland; "Hackers" by Steven Levy; and "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" by Eric S. Raymond.

If you find any of these hacking manuals in your child's possession, confiscate them immediately. You should also petition local booksellers to remove these titles from their shelves. You may meet with some resistance at first, but even booksellers have to bow to community pressure.

5. How much time does your child spend using the computer each day?

If your son spends more than thirty minutes each day on the computer, he may be using it to DOS other peoples sites. DOSing involves gaining access to the "command prompt" on other people's machines, and using it to tie up vital internet services. This can take up to eight hours. If your son is doing this, he is breaking the law, and you should stop him immediately. The safest policy is to limit your children's access to the computer to a maximum of forty-five minutes each day.

6. Does your son use Quake?

Quake is an online virtual reality used by hackers. It is a popular meeting place and training ground, where they discuss hacking and train in the use of various firearms. Many hackers develop anti-social tendencies due to the use of this virtual world, and it may cause erratic behaviour at home and at school.

If your son is using Quake, you should make hime understand that this is not acceptable to you. You should ensure all the firearms in your house are carefully locked away, and have trigger locks installed. You should also bring your concerns to the attention of his school.

7. Is your son becoming argumentative and surly in his social behaviour?

As a child enters the electronic world of hacking, he may become disaffected with the real world. He may lose the ability to control his actions, or judge the rightness or wrongness of a course of behaviour. This will manifest itself soonest in the way he treats others. Those whom he disagrees with will be met with scorn, bitterness, and even foul language. He may utter threats of violence of a real or electronic nature.

Even when confronted, your son will probably find it difficult to talk about this problem to you. He will probably claim that there is no problem, and that you are imagining things. He may tell you that it is you who has the problem, and you should "back off" and "stop smothering him." Do not allow yourself to be deceived. You are the only chance your son has, even if he doesn't understand the situation he is in. Keep trying to get through to him, no matter how much he retreats into himself.

8. Is your son obsessed with "Lunix"?

BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War. It is based on a program called "xenix", which was written by Microsoft for the US government. These programs are used by hackers to break into other people's computer systems to steal credit card numbers. They may also be used to break into people's stereos to steal their music, using the "mp3" program. Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as "telnet", which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone.

Your son may try to install "lunix" on your hard drive. If he is careful, you may not notice its presence, however, lunix is a capricious beast, and if handled incorrectly, your son may damage your computer, and even break it completely by deleting Windows, at which point you will have to have your computer repaired by a professional.

If you see the word "LILO" during your windows startup (just after you turn the machine on), your son has installed lunix. In order to get rid of it, you will have to send your computer back to the manufacturer, and have them fit a new hard drive. Lunix is extremely dangerous software, and cannot be removed without destroying part of your hard disk surface.

9. Has your son radically changed his appearance?

If your son has undergone a sudden change in his style of dress, you may have a hacker on your hands. Hackers tend to dress in bright, day-glo colors. They may wear baggy pants, bright colored shirts and spiky hair dyed in bright colors to match their clothes. They may take to carrying "glow-sticks" and some wear pacifiers around their necks. (I have no idea why they do this) There are many such hackers in schools today, and your son may have started to associate with them. If you notice that your son's group of friends includes people dressed like this, it is time to think about a severe curfew, to protect him from dangerous influences.

10. Is your son struggling academically?

If your son is failing courses in school, or performing poorly on sports teams, he may be involved in a hacking group, such as the infamous "Otaku" hacker association. Excessive time spent on the computer, communicating with his fellow hackers may cause temporary damage to the eyes and brain, from the electromagnetic radiation. This will cause his marks to slip dramatically, particularly in difficult subjects such as Math, and Chemistry. In extreme cases, over-exposure to computer radiation can cause schizophrenia, meningitis and other psychological diseases. Also, the reduction in exercise may cause him to lose muscle mass, and even to start gaining weight. For the sake of your child's mental and physical health, you must put a stop to his hacking, and limit his computer time drastically.

I encourage all parents to read through this guide carefully. Your child's future may depend upon it. Hacking is an illegal and dangerous activity, that may land your child in prison, and tear your family apart. It cannot be taken too seriously.

I Wish I had written it. Enjoy!

As an enlightened, modern parent, I try to be as involved as possible in the lives of my six children. I encourage them to join team sports. I attend their teen parties with them to ensure no drinking or alcohol is on the premises. I keep a fatherly eye on the CDs they listen to and the shows they watch, the company they keep and the books they read. You could say I'm a model parent. My children have never failed to make me proud, and I can say without the slightest embellishment that I have the finest family in the USA.

Two years ago, my wife Carol and I decided that our children's education would not be complete without some grounding in modern computers. To this end, we bought our children a brand new Compaq to learn with. The kids had a lot of fun using the handful of application programs we'd bought, such as Adobe's Photoshop and Microsoft's Word, and my wife and I were pleased that our gift was received so well. Our son Peter was most entranced by the device, and became quite a pro at surfing the net. When Peter began to spend whole days on the machine, I became concerned, but Carol advised me to calm down, and that it was only a passing phase. I was content to bow to her experience as a mother, until our youngest daughter, Cindy, charged into the living room one night to blurt out: "Peter is a computer hacker!"

As you can imagine, I was amazed. A computer hacker in my own house! I began to monitor my son's habits, to make certain that Cindy wasn't just telling stories, as she is prone to doing at times.

After a few days of investigation, and some research into computer hacking, I confronted Peter with the evidence. I'm afraid to say, this was the only time I have ever been truly disappointed in one of my children. We raised them to be honest and to have integrity, and Peter betrayed the principles we tried to encourage in him, when he refused point blank to admit to his activities. His denials continued for hours, and in the end, I was left with no choice but to ban him from using the computer until he is old enough to be responsible for his actions.

After going through this ordeal with my own family, I was left pondering how I could best help others in similar situations. I'd gained a lot of knowledge over those few days regarding hackers. It's only right that I provide that information to other parents, in the hope that they will be able to tell if their children are being drawn into the world of hacking. Perhaps other parents will be able to steer their sons back onto the straight and narrow before extreme measures need to be employed.

To this end, I have decided to publish the top ten signs that your son is a hacker. I advise any parents to read this list carefully and if their son matches the profile, they should take action. A smart parent will first try to reason with their son, before resorting to groundings, or even spanking. I pride myself that I have never had to spank a child, and I hope this guide will help other parents to put a halt to their son's misbehaviour before a spanking becomes necessary.

1. Has your son asked you to change ISPs?

Most American families use trusted and responsible Internet Service Providers, such as AOL. These providers have a strict "No Hacking" policy, and take careful measures to ensure that your internet experience is enjoyable, educational and above all legal. If your child is becoming a hacker, one of his first steps will be to request a change to a more hacker friendly provider.

I would advise all parents to refuse this request. One of the reasons your son is interested in switching providers is to get away from AOL's child safety filter. This filter is vital to any parent who wants his son to enjoy the internet without the endangering him through exposure to "adult" content. It is best to stick with the protection AOL provides, rather than using a home-based solution. If your son is becoming a hacker, he will be able to circumvent any home-based measures with surprising ease, using information gleaned from various hacker sites.

2. Are you finding programs on your computer that you don't remember installing?

Your son will probably try to install some hacker software. He may attempt to conceal the presence of the software in some way, but you can usually find any new programs by reading through the programs listed under "Install/Remove Programs" in your control panel. Popular hacker software includes "Comet Cursor", "Bonzi Buddy" and "Flash".

The best option is to confront your son with the evidence, and force him to remove the offending programs. He will probably try to install the software again, but you will be able to tell that this is happening, if your machine offers to "download" one of the hacker applications. If this happens, it is time to give your son a stern talking to, and possibly consider punishing him with a grounding.

3. Has your child asked for new hardware?

Computer hackers are often limited by conventional computer hardware. They may request "faster" video cards, and larger hard drives, or even more memory. If your son starts requesting these devices, it is possible that he has a legitimate need. You can best ensure that you are buying legal, trustworthy hardware by only buying replacement parts from your computer's manufacturer.

If your son has requested a new "processor" from a company called "AMD", this is genuine cause for alarm. AMD is a third-world based company who make inferior, "knock-off" copies of American processor chips. They use child labor extensively in their third world sweatshops, and they deliberately disable the security features that American processor makers, such as Intel, use to prevent hacking. AMD chips are never sold in stores, and you will most likely be told that you have to order them from internet sites. Do not buy this chip! This is one request that you must refuse your son, if you are to have any hope of raising him well.

4. Does your child read hacking manuals?

If you pay close attention to your son's reading habits, as I do, you will be able to determine a great deal about his opinions and hobbies. Children are at their most impressionable in the teenage years. Any father who has had a seventeen year old daughter attempt to sneak out on a date wearing make up and perfume is well aware of the effect that improper influences can have on inexperienced minds.

There are, unfortunately, many hacking manuals available in bookshops today. A few titles to be on the lookout for are: "Snow Crash" and "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson; "Neuromancer" by William Gibson; "Programming with Perl" by Timothy O'Reilly; "Geeks" by Jon Katz; "The Hacker Crackdown" by Bruce Sterling; "Microserfs" by Douglas Coupland; "Hackers" by Steven Levy; and "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" by Eric S. Raymond.

If you find any of these hacking manuals in your child's possession, confiscate them immediately. You should also petition local booksellers to remove these titles from their shelves. You may meet with some resistance at first, but even booksellers have to bow to community pressure.

5. How much time does your child spend using the computer each day?

If your son spends more than thirty minutes each day on the computer, he may be using it to DOS other peoples sites. DOSing involves gaining access to the "command prompt" on other people's machines, and using it to tie up vital internet services. This can take up to eight hours. If your son is doing this, he is breaking the law, and you should stop him immediately. The safest policy is to limit your children's access to the computer to a maximum of forty-five minutes each day.

6. Does your son use Quake?

Quake is an online virtual reality used by hackers. It is a popular meeting place and training ground, where they discuss hacking and train in the use of various firearms. Many hackers develop anti-social tendencies due to the use of this virtual world, and it may cause erratic behaviour at home and at school.

If your son is using Quake, you should make hime understand that this is not acceptable to you. You should ensure all the firearms in your house are carefully locked away, and have trigger locks installed. You should also bring your concerns to the attention of his school.

7. Is your son becoming argumentative and surly in his social behaviour?

As a child enters the electronic world of hacking, he may become disaffected with the real world. He may lose the ability to control his actions, or judge the rightness or wrongness of a course of behaviour. This will manifest itself soonest in the way he treats others. Those whom he disagrees with will be met with scorn, bitterness, and even foul language. He may utter threats of violence of a real or electronic nature.

Even when confronted, your son will probably find it difficult to talk about this problem to you. He will probably claim that there is no problem, and that you are imagining things. He may tell you that it is you who has the problem, and you should "back off" and "stop smothering him." Do not allow yourself to be deceived. You are the only chance your son has, even if he doesn't understand the situation he is in. Keep trying to get through to him, no matter how much he retreats into himself.

8. Is your son obsessed with "Lunix"?

BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War. It is based on a program called "xenix", which was written by Microsoft for the US government. These programs are used by hackers to break into other people's computer systems to steal credit card numbers. They may also be used to break into people's stereos to steal their music, using the "mp3" program. Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as "telnet", which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone.

Your son may try to install "lunix" on your hard drive. If he is careful, you may not notice its presence, however, lunix is a capricious beast, and if handled incorrectly, your son may damage your computer, and even break it completely by deleting Windows, at which point you will have to have your computer repaired by a professional.

If you see the word "LILO" during your windows startup (just after you turn the machine on), your son has installed lunix. In order to get rid of it, you will have to send your computer back to the manufacturer, and have them fit a new hard drive. Lunix is extremely dangerous software, and cannot be removed without destroying part of your hard disk surface.

9. Has your son radically changed his appearance?

If your son has undergone a sudden change in his style of dress, you may have a hacker on your hands. Hackers tend to dress in bright, day-glo colors. They may wear baggy pants, bright colored shirts and spiky hair dyed in bright colors to match their clothes. They may take to carrying "glow-sticks" and some wear pacifiers around their necks. (I have no idea why they do this) There are many such hackers in schools today, and your son may have started to associate with them. If you notice that your son's group of friends includes people dressed like this, it is time to think about a severe curfew, to protect him from dangerous influences.

10. Is your son struggling academically?

If your son is failing courses in school, or performing poorly on sports teams, he may be involved in a hacking group, such as the infamous "Otaku" hacker association. Excessive time spent on the computer, communicating with his fellow hackers may cause temporary damage to the eyes and brain, from the electromagnetic radiation. This will cause his marks to slip dramatically, particularly in difficult subjects such as Math, and Chemistry. In extreme cases, over-exposure to computer radiation can cause schizophrenia, meningitis and other psychological diseases. Also, the reduction in exercise may cause him to lose muscle mass, and even to start gaining weight. For the sake of your child's mental and physical health, you must put a stop to his hacking, and limit his computer time drastically.

I encourage all parents to read through this guide carefully. Your child's future may depend upon it. Hacking is an illegal and dangerous activity, that may land your child in prison, and tear your family apart. It cannot be taken too seriously.

I Wish I had written it. Enjoy!

As an enlightened, modern parent, I try to be as involved as possible in the lives of my six children. I encourage them to join team sports. I attend their teen parties with them to ensure no drinking or alcohol is on the premises. I keep a fatherly eye on the CDs they listen to and the shows they watch, the company they keep and the books they read. You could say I'm a model parent. My children have never failed to make me proud, and I can say without the slightest embellishment that I have the finest family in the USA.

Two years ago, my wife Carol and I decided that our children's education would not be complete without some grounding in modern computers. To this end, we bought our children a brand new Compaq to learn with. The kids had a lot of fun using the handful of application programs we'd bought, such as Adobe's Photoshop and Microsoft's Word, and my wife and I were pleased that our gift was received so well. Our son Peter was most entranced by the device, and became quite a pro at surfing the net. When Peter began to spend whole days on the machine, I became concerned, but Carol advised me to calm down, and that it was only a passing phase. I was content to bow to her experience as a mother, until our youngest daughter, Cindy, charged into the living room one night to blurt out: "Peter is a computer hacker!"

As you can imagine, I was amazed. A computer hacker in my own house! I began to monitor my son's habits, to make certain that Cindy wasn't just telling stories, as she is prone to doing at times.

After a few days of investigation, and some research into computer hacking, I confronted Peter with the evidence. I'm afraid to say, this was the only time I have ever been truly disappointed in one of my children. We raised them to be honest and to have integrity, and Peter betrayed the principles we tried to encourage in him, when he refused point blank to admit to his activities. His denials continued for hours, and in the end, I was left with no choice but to ban him from using the computer until he is old enough to be responsible for his actions.

After going through this ordeal with my own family, I was left pondering how I could best help others in similar situations. I'd gained a lot of knowledge over those few days regarding hackers. It's only right that I provide that information to other parents, in the hope that they will be able to tell if their children are being drawn into the world of hacking. Perhaps other parents will be able to steer their sons back onto the straight and narrow before extreme measures need to be employed.

To this end, I have decided to publish the top ten signs that your son is a hacker. I advise any parents to read this list carefully and if their son matches the profile, they should take action. A smart parent will first try to reason with their son, before resorting to groundings, or even spanking. I pride myself that I have never had to spank a child, and I hope this guide will help other parents to put a halt to their son's misbehaviour before a spanking becomes necessary.

1. Has your son asked you to change ISPs?

Most American families use trusted and responsible Internet Service Providers, such as AOL. These providers have a strict "No Hacking" policy, and take careful measures to ensure that your internet experience is enjoyable, educational and above all legal. If your child is becoming a hacker, one of his first steps will be to request a change to a more hacker friendly provider.

I would advise all parents to refuse this request. One of the reasons your son is interested in switching providers is to get away from AOL's child safety filter. This filter is vital to any parent who wants his son to enjoy the internet without the endangering him through exposure to "adult" content. It is best to stick with the protection AOL provides, rather than using a home-based solution. If your son is becoming a hacker, he will be able to circumvent any home-based measures with surprising ease, using information gleaned from various hacker sites.

2. Are you finding programs on your computer that you don't remember installing?

Your son will probably try to install some hacker software. He may attempt to conceal the presence of the software in some way, but you can usually find any new programs by reading through the programs listed under "Install/Remove Programs" in your control panel. Popular hacker software includes "Comet Cursor", "Bonzi Buddy" and "Flash".

The best option is to confront your son with the evidence, and force him to remove the offending programs. He will probably try to install the software again, but you will be able to tell that this is happening, if your machine offers to "download" one of the hacker applications. If this happens, it is time to give your son a stern talking to, and possibly consider punishing him with a grounding.

3. Has your child asked for new hardware?

Computer hackers are often limited by conventional computer hardware. They may request "faster" video cards, and larger hard drives, or even more memory. If your son starts requesting these devices, it is possible that he has a legitimate need. You can best ensure that you are buying legal, trustworthy hardware by only buying replacement parts from your computer's manufacturer.

If your son has requested a new "processor" from a company called "AMD", this is genuine cause for alarm. AMD is a third-world based company who make inferior, "knock-off" copies of American processor chips. They use child labor extensively in their third world sweatshops, and they deliberately disable the security features that American processor makers, such as Intel, use to prevent hacking. AMD chips are never sold in stores, and you will most likely be told that you have to order them from internet sites. Do not buy this chip! This is one request that you must refuse your son, if you are to have any hope of raising him well.

4. Does your child read hacking manuals?

If you pay close attention to your son's reading habits, as I do, you will be able to determine a great deal about his opinions and hobbies. Children are at their most impressionable in the teenage years. Any father who has had a seventeen year old daughter attempt to sneak out on a date wearing make up and perfume is well aware of the effect that improper influences can have on inexperienced minds.

There are, unfortunately, many hacking manuals available in bookshops today. A few titles to be on the lookout for are: "Snow Crash" and "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson; "Neuromancer" by William Gibson; "Programming with Perl" by Timothy O'Reilly; "Geeks" by Jon Katz; "The Hacker Crackdown" by Bruce Sterling; "Microserfs" by Douglas Coupland; "Hackers" by Steven Levy; and "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" by Eric S. Raymond.

If you find any of these hacking manuals in your child's possession, confiscate them immediately. You should also petition local booksellers to remove these titles from their shelves. You may meet with some resistance at first, but even booksellers have to bow to community pressure.

5. How much time does your child spend using the computer each day?

If your son spends more than thirty minutes each day on the computer, he may be using it to DOS other peoples sites. DOSing involves gaining access to the "command prompt" on other people's machines, and using it to tie up vital internet services. This can take up to eight hours. If your son is doing this, he is breaking the law, and you should stop him immediately. The safest policy is to limit your children's access to the computer to a maximum of forty-five minutes each day.

6. Does your son use Quake?

Quake is an online virtual reality used by hackers. It is a popular meeting place and training ground, where they discuss hacking and train in the use of various firearms. Many hackers develop anti-social tendencies due to the use of this virtual world, and it may cause erratic behaviour at home and at school.

If your son is using Quake, you should make hime understand that this is not acceptable to you. You should ensure all the firearms in your house are carefully locked away, and have trigger locks installed. You should also bring your concerns to the attention of his school.

7. Is your son becoming argumentative and surly in his social behaviour?

As a child enters the electronic world of hacking, he may become disaffected with the real world. He may lose the ability to control his actions, or judge the rightness or wrongness of a course of behaviour. This will manifest itself soonest in the way he treats others. Those whom he disagrees with will be met with scorn, bitterness, and even foul language. He may utter threats of violence of a real or electronic nature.

Even when confronted, your son will probably find it difficult to talk about this problem to you. He will probably claim that there is no problem, and that you are imagining things. He may tell you that it is you who has the problem, and you should "back off" and "stop smothering him." Do not allow yourself to be deceived. You are the only chance your son has, even if he doesn't understand the situation he is in. Keep trying to get through to him, no matter how much he retreats into himself.

8. Is your son obsessed with "Lunix"?

BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War. It is based on a program called "xenix", which was written by Microsoft for the US government. These programs are used by hackers to break into other people's computer systems to steal credit card numbers. They may also be used to break into people's stereos to steal their music, using the "mp3" program. Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as "telnet", which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone.

Your son may try to install "lunix" on your hard drive. If he is careful, you may not notice its presence, however, lunix is a capricious beast, and if handled incorrectly, your son may damage your computer, and even break it completely by deleting Windows, at which point you will have to have your computer repaired by a professional.

If you see the word "LILO" during your windows startup (just after you turn the machine on), your son has installed lunix. In order to get rid of it, you will have to send your computer back to the manufacturer, and have them fit a new hard drive. Lunix is extremely dangerous software, and cannot be removed without destroying part of your hard disk surface.

9. Has your son radically changed his appearance?

If your son has undergone a sudden change in his style of dress, you may have a hacker on your hands. Hackers tend to dress in bright, day-glo colors. They may wear baggy pants, bright colored shirts and spiky hair dyed in bright colors to match their clothes. They may take to carrying "glow-sticks" and some wear pacifiers around their necks. (I have no idea why they do this) There are many such hackers in schools today, and your son may have started to associate with them. If you notice that your son's group of friends includes people dressed like this, it is time to think about a severe curfew, to protect him from dangerous influences.

10. Is your son struggling academically?

If your son is failing courses in school, or performing poorly on sports teams, he may be involved in a hacking group, such as the infamous "Otaku" hacker association. Excessive time spent on the computer, communicating with his fellow hackers may cause temporary damage to the eyes and brain, from the electromagnetic radiation. This will cause his marks to slip dramatically, particularly in difficult subjects such as Math, and Chemistry. In extreme cases, over-exposure to computer radiation can cause schizophrenia, meningitis and other psychological diseases. Also, the reduction in exercise may cause him to lose muscle mass, and even to start gaining weight. For the sake of your child's mental and physical health, you must put a stop to his hacking, and limit his computer time drastically.

I encourage all parents to read through this guide carefully. Your child's future may depend upon it. Hacking is an illegal and dangerous activity, that may land your child in prison, and tear your family apart. It cannot be taken too seriously.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoo m/0,,51_104_543~13212,00.html

Motherboards will be ready in February from lots of vendors.

Have you ran the windows 2000 registry fix, which prevents the AGP-related memory corruption with AMD processors? The fix can be found from the following links :

http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/utili ties/largePageMinimum.reg

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb; EN-US;Q270715

That's too late. They need it sooner to compete with the Inanium.

It was a incomplete comparison

It really should have been a VIA KT266 vs VIA KT266A vs NVidia NForce vs AMD 760 vs SIS 735 vs SIS 745 vs ALI MAGiK 1 / M1647 (both revisions)
comparison.

The AMD Athlon "XP" modifier is designed to convey the extreme performance AMD Athlon XP processors deliver for the upcoming Microsoft Windows XP operating system.

I honestly don't see the problem people around here have with the XP name. There are a hell of a lot more Athlons running Windows than there are running Linux. The thing that gets me is "QuantiSpeed (TM)." That's even stupider than Itanium.

Bypassing this security mechanism is stealing, pure and simple. At least that is what some people say. But, when you buy a CPU you are not buying a service. If I want to buy a new car and then bore out the cylinders to get a little more horsepower, it is okay. Why don't car manufacturers put a big padlock on the engine compartment, then they could require you to take it into the dealer when you needed any kind of service. etc. I'm sure the people at AMD would differ with this opinion.

These new chips coming from AMD are nothing short of amazing. While Intel struggles with their attempts to force a slower, proprietary memory architecture on PC users and push a weaker processing architecture, AMD is leading the market and producing technology that is faster, more reliable, and cheaper.

Unfortunately for AMD, better technology often loses to superior marketing forces. Several of my friends went to work for Dell after graduation, and they told me that their employer is not going to be supporting these new AMD offerings out of allegiance to Intel. Dell (and many other manufacturers, such as Gateway) are afraid of Intel cutting them out of the loop when supplies are tight so they give AMD second-rate status or drop support altogether. The problem also exists that many customers buy Intel exclusively, despite its low performance/price ratio.

The future isn't nearly as bright for AMD and TMTA as it should be. If our government actually punished companies for anticompetitive practices, things would be different. Maybe in 2004 it will be a priority for the new administration. But I am not holding my breath.

~walter

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoo m/0,,51_104_608,00.html

That link includes a pretty roadmap graphic. It also shows the Barton design following the Thoroughbred release.

I had just finished downloading the athlon xp 1800 yesterday. Great now I have to download the new one over my 28.8k modem :/

I think you wanna try http://www.amd.com/updates/last-minute/patch-xp180 0-2-xp1900.tgz. Worked for me..

I realize I'm only one, but I'm accusing them of dishonesty--they're taking advantage of what they must hope is ignorance on the part of a large portion of their customer base that will never see their FAQ in which they admit that the "model numbers" aren't really clock speeds.

From AMD's technical documents you can find that the current Athlons are specced to run up to a max die temperature of 90C. I wouldn't recommend anything near that for long term use, but you can do it.

The original Microprocessor Forum presentation is available:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/Downl oadableAssets/MPF_Hammer_Presentation.PDF

Itanium isn't just for the server market now. IBM, SGI and several others are marketing Itanium technical workstations. Intel has also stated that it sees Itanium making it to the desktop at some point in the future, replacing x86.

Hammer, on the other hand (specifically Clawhammer) has always been targeted at the desktop from the get-go (along with server and workstation). Check it out on the AMD processor roadmap (which I just managed to find again;).

Another point to keep in mind is that the ability to compete in the server marketplace is a key for AMD. It will provide them with the same ability as Intel to subsidize desktop processors with expensive server processors. Right now Intel can sell P4s at a loss and still turn an overall profit, while AMD suffers. Once Hammer ships, the dynamic will change quite a bit... ;-)

Perhaps McKinley (the joint project with HP) is Intel's idea of the post P4 desktop processor, as I've seen elsewhere that Itanium's x86 emulation makes a PIII look attractive.

I thought McKinley was just the .13 micron version of Itanium, perhaps with more cache. Does it have an enhanced ability to do IA32?

The ability to build a desktop workstation with the ability to run all my old x86 crap, fast, and move into 64bit software, also fast, is highly attractive. Athlon or P4 will undoubtably be the choices for the next year, but when AMD gets the Hammer out into the mainstream with a mainstream price, Intel watch out.

I couldn't agree more!

Lastly, Microsoft, last I read, didn't indicate any interest in doing a version of XP for the Hammer. Perhaps that hasn't changed. If not, there's a potential hole through which someone may exploit Microsoft's disinterest. Linux, sure, AOL, Hmmm, you know that's a mean fight going on between Reston, VA and Redmond, WA, if the Hammer is attractive to home users, don't be surprise if AOL chooses to support it. It's entertaining to think about, anyway, however you feel about the combatants.

I think Linux will be strong presence on the Hammer, along with potentially (wild prediction here) MacOS X. Microsoft will support it as soon as it begins to take marketshare like the US Rangers taking Omar's palace (not that I particularly care if Microsoft supports it). As for AOL, it should just get busy porting it's interface to Java like it said it would a year or so ago. That alone would be a big blow to Microsoft, and would simplify software development quite a bit for AOL as well as widening the number of AOL platforms substantially.

299,792,458 m/s...not just a good idea, its the law!

Itanium will have a run for its money, I suspect.

For that to happen, first those two processors must be in the same market segment. Do you see people using Alphas switching to x86? The same way, Itanium's market is not the desktop or average workstation. They're trying to compete with the cream of the crop RISC chips.

Rants aside, the Hammer architecture is a nice way to transition to 64-bit computing while keeping legacy code, no rewriting or even recompiling. But it has a cost: it'll carry the same inefficiencies found in current CISC processors. While many designers have found their way around it in the performance arena, the drawbacks are evident: higher complexity, power dissipation, etc. -- die size is unevenly divided between control logic and number-crunching logic, which isn't a comfortable situation.

Take the time to generate assembly code using gcc -S, and you'll soon find out there's just a handful of instructions being generated. Taking a peek at AMD's code optimization guide, you can see those are the fastest instructions (collectively called DirectPath instructions), and they can be paired with 2 other simple instructions in the decoding stage. Trying to execute hand-optimized 8086-80386 code would actually result in slow execution, due to the use of VectorPath instructions, which can't be paired and, as a rule of thumb, take more cycles to execute (not always the case though. We're RISC-ing the code in order to make it efficient, but we're carrying the burden of Intel's design flaws of long ago, in the form of this added control logic for handling legacy code.

At this point, since rarely used instructions are being executed slowly, why not resort to some sort of emulation, a la Code Morphing? Not completely throwing away the architecture as Transmeta did, keep the simple instructions and emulate the rest (such as those used to handle BCD arithmetic, hardly used today).

Although it may seem like I hate x86, in fact, as an assembly coder, I find it one of the most comfortable architectures to work with. I have read some RISC assembly code, and couldn't picture myself writing code in it. I've programmed in 68HC11 assembly as well (it's a microcontroller from Motorola), and it feels like coding with your hands tied. So I'll definitely enjoy the new Hammer archicteture, especially because it fixes my two major complaints: small amount of registers (they've added 8 new ones), and the 32-bit architecture. Also, I'll be drowning for SSE2 support, including 8 new registers as well (that's 16 128-bit registers! yay!)

No, like Itanium Hammer gets more done in a single clock. I can't see how this will hurt Hammer vs. Itanium. Itanium/McKinley will have much lower clock numbers than Hammer, which is supposed to debut at 2+ GHz.

I also disagree regarding the performance rating being 'doomed'. I think the jury is still out, and so far it has had the effect of raising ASPs (average selling prices) for AMD processors relative to the overrated P4 - which is a good thing for AMD.

Still, a very promising CPU. (but a lot can happen before the CPU is realeased sometime in 2003)

A small correction - Hammer is supposed to ship in small quantities in the first half of 2002, and in production quantities in the second half. The processor roadmap appears to missing at the moment, but the release date is mentioned in the x86-64 FAQ.

I can't wait to see the first SPEC numbers!

299,792,458 m/s...not just a good idea, its the law!

How is a dual AMD Athlon machine Intel hardware? It's Intel architechture, but since when were Intel building AMD CPU's?

Instead, AthlonXP1800+ == theoretical 1.8 GHz Athlon Thunderbird

(As measured by some suite of benchmarks AMD has put together, although it's not exactly clear what because they keep fouling it up and talking about the P4 in their so-called whitepaper).

Thus, while this may be a misguided marketing ploy destined to backfire, it is nonetheless a fundamentally fair one, strictly meant to compare Athlons to Athlons, not Athlon's to P4s!

"Model numbers are designed to communicate the relative application performance among the various AMD Athlon XP processors, as well as communicate the architectural superiority over existing AMD Athlon processors." (From the FAQ.)

Thus an AthlonXP 1800+ is (supposed to be) just as much better than a 1.8 GHz P4 as a 1.4 GHz Athlon Thunderbird was better than a 1.4 GHz P4.

(In reality this is not always so much the case, the main reason being that at higher processor speeds the chipset comes into play more, and the dual-channel RDRAM i850 for the P4 delivers more bandwidth than a single-channel PC266 chipset for the AthlonXP (eg. VIA KT266A). This advantage will be all-but-gone once PC333 chipsets hit in a few months...)

Please get it right!

Instead, AthlonXP1800+ == theoretical 1.8 GHz Athlon Thunderbird

(As measured by some suite of benchmarks AMD has put together, although it's not exactly clear what because they keep fouling it up and talking about the P4 in their so-called whitepaper).

Thus, while this may be a misguided marketing ploy destined to backfire, it is nonetheless a fundamentally fair one, strictly meant to compare Athlons to Athlons, not Athlon's to P4s!

"Model numbers are designed to communicate the relative application performance among the various AMD Athlon XP processors, as well as communicate the architectural superiority over existing AMD Athlon processors." (From the FAQ.)

Thus an AthlonXP 1800+ is (supposed to be) just as much better than a 1.8 GHz P4 as a 1.4 GHz Athlon Thunderbird was better than a 1.4 GHz P4.

(In reality this is not always so much the case, the main reason being that at higher processor speeds the chipset comes into play more, and the dual-channel RDRAM i850 for the P4 delivers more bandwidth than a single-channel PC266 chipset for the AthlonXP (eg. VIA KT266A). This advantage will be all-but-gone once PC333 chipsets hit in a few months...)

Please get it right!

AMD Athlon" XP processor with QuantiSpeed" Architecture Analogies
1. Adult and Child Walking
If a child and an adult are walking together, the child needs to take more steps to keep up with the adult. Since the adult has a longer stride than the child and travels further with each step. The child has to work harder by moving faster to try and keep up.

2. Automobile Engines
Two cars are in a race. The Blue Car has a 6-cylinder engine while the Green Car has a 9-cylinder engine. While the Blue Car s engine works hard in terms of high RPMs, it doesn't actually go all that fast down the road. In contrast, the Green Car s more powerful engine doesn't have to run at high RPMs. Yet on the road, the Green Car blows the doors off the Blue Car. The more powerful Green Car engine is designed to run efficiently and to deliver a faster, more powerful driving experience.

3. Bucket and Cup
You and a friend are out on the lake in a rowboat. At some point, you both notice that the boat is taking on water. Your friend starts bailing water with a cup while you start bailing water with a bucket. In a panic, your friend bails faster than you, but since your container is larger, you end up bailing more water in the same amount of time.

4. Cycling
Two cyclists ride together on 10-speed bikes. One cyclist uses the 10th gear, pedaling slower but moving faster down the road and covering more distance with each stroke. The other cyclist uses 1st gear and has to pedal like a lunatic to achieve even close to the same speed on the road and cover the same ground.

This is what one finds by going to athlonxp.amd.com and clicking on any links that say "technical"

God almighty, I am sick of people miss-pronouncing and miss-spelling it in this way. The chip has been out for years.

This site is all about the processor - it was made by a friend's company and he'd love to see how it does against the /. effect. ;)

The Athlon can do up to 4 FlOps per cycle. On a 1 GHz machine that'd be 4 GigaFlOpS or 4000 MegaFlOps. See execution pipelines section of this document.

• just the cpu can burn in excess of 50W in existing cpus

An Athlon needs 76W and runs at up to 95 degrees C die temperature. Ouchie!

Funnily enough, in some areas, it's illegal to put an incandescent lightbulb of that power in a confined area, e.g. the closet under the stairs where I run my (pleasantly warm) P133 firewall. I don't know of any such restrictions for computers.

From the refferenced page:

Date last revised: 31 March 1999

And they only talk about the 2.2.x kernels. Kinda old, man. There's been a lot of work done with the 2.4.x breeds (most back-ported to 2.2.x) that make SMP a God Send (TM).

Also:

AMD and Cyrix do not support SMP.

Hmmm...

Why is it that AMD produces explicit MP CPUs, and I read about MP boards that can use standard CPUs?

Sorry about that. For those of you who can't type it in themselves, here... amd.com

With the chips being 64bit and fully capable of supporting multiple cores, it could give IBM servers and workstations a boost. The chip architecture wars are about to start to hit another exciting stretch, as long research programs begin to produce results for Intel, AMD, and AIM. 2002 should be a big year.

Read up on it yourself :) (page 12) (and in case your impatient - its 95 degrees C)

AMD's Thermal Cooling Guide (white paper)

* extension of x86 architecture - only a couple new instructions added.

* natively runs all x86-32/16 bit code, only requiring 60 clock cycles to switch from the 64 bit operating mode to 32 bit mode

* addition of 8 general purpose registers, which really are general purpose (unlike the EAX/etc registers which can have side effects)

* we had a fully working 64 bit version of SuSE linux running in an emulator by Simics at Linuxworld
* you will not have to upgrade any software. You can take every single program (including OS) and run it just fine on the hammer chips. When you feel like it, and have the cash to burn, go buy the 64 bit versions. The hammer chips are expected to run 32 bit code better than the Athlons. Now please note: that's of course "expected", legal speak for I'm not guaranteeing shit, it's what we're hoping for =)
* desktop model to be 1-2P, server model to be 4-8P.

Want an overview on the 64 bit chips? Click here. There will probably be more than you want to know here, but the first few pages present a good overview. There is also more located here.

* extension of x86 architecture - only a couple new instructions added.

* natively runs all x86-32/16 bit code, only requiring 60 clock cycles to switch from the 64 bit operating mode to 32 bit mode

* addition of 8 general purpose registers, which really are general purpose (unlike the EAX/etc registers which can have side effects)

* we had a fully working 64 bit version of SuSE linux running in an emulator by Simics at Linuxworld
* you will not have to upgrade any software. You can take every single program (including OS) and run it just fine on the hammer chips. When you feel like it, and have the cash to burn, go buy the 64 bit versions. The hammer chips are expected to run 32 bit code better than the Athlons. Now please note: that's of course "expected", legal speak for I'm not guaranteeing shit, it's what we're hoping for =)
* desktop model to be 1-2P, server model to be 4-8P.

Want an overview on the 64 bit chips? Click here. There will probably be more than you want to know here, but the first few pages present a good overview. There is also more located here.

AMD has a good product, I just wish they were a little less mum, and had a better response than warmed-over P-numbers. I also wish we could hear a bit more noise about the Hammers.

I'm hoping that AMD will really trumpet the Hammer message once they have actual silicon. It should be a great alternative to Itanium, and will be positioned to immediately make inroads in the desktop/workstation market as well. I hope AMD will do a good job (as Intel has with P4 and Itanium) with helping the compiler writers get the most out of the chip. The Linux based Hammer simulation tools are at least a good start.

I know AMD released less than stellar numbers regarding current sales (although it may have been mainly flash related), but I'd have to think Athlon would be doing very, very well in the current economic climate...

At any rate, if AMD can execute well on Hammer, it should quickly make major inroads at the high end, IMO. AMD's reputation has grown tremendously with the success of Athlon.

186,282 mi/s...not just a good idea, its the law!

AMD has always had a great utility to display information about the running processor. It works on any processor. I've used it on a Athlon/Thunderbird, K6, Athlon, and even an Intel Celery.

http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/bin/cpuinfo.exe [evil-trojan.com ;]

And the driver information page: http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/bin/cpuinfo.txt

Worth noting: my AMD processor had an extra 10MHz thrown in free compared to the rating. :-)

AMD has always had a great utility to display information about the running processor. It works on any processor. I've used it on a Athlon/Thunderbird, K6, Athlon, and even an Intel Celery.

http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/bin/cpuinfo.exe [evil-trojan.com ;]

And the driver information page: http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/bin/cpuinfo.txt

Worth noting: my AMD processor had an extra 10MHz thrown in free compared to the rating. :-)