Intel desktop buying guide

In the last few weeks, chip giant Intel has totally re-drawn its roadmaps for 2006 and for 2007 and as Microsoft Vista approaches, future buying decisions will be based on a number of factors rather than GHz, now that the Megahurts Wars are over.

So in the spirit of INQuiry, we offer a 2006 style crib sheet to the offerings you can expect from now. Life is no longer system. The days when AMD and Intel leapfrogged each other with sheer clock speeds are gone. They both might be bragging these days about additional features such as virtualisation and management features as well as just how many cores they want, but this, we can assure you, is going to make it even harder to figure out which chip you want, and when you should buy it.