In my youth, all those long years ago, I kept up with hardware — specifically CPUs — a lot more than I do now. Of course, it was easy when there was only the 486, 486DX, 486SX and 486SLC CPUs to keep track of. Now we have a mind numbing array of CPUs and codenames: Core, Core 2, Core 2 Duo, Celeron, Atom, Xeon, Conroe, Kentsfield, Yorkfield, Lions and Tigers and Bears oh my! Intel recognizes that they’re confusing customers with all of these nonsense words, and they’re working to streamline the product line.
So the key here is there will be a range of features and capabilities within the Intel Core family – our flagship brand representing the highest performance and the latest technology – but simplified into entry-level (Intel Core i3), mid-level (Intel Core i5), and high-level (Intel Core i7). We will still have Celeron for entry-level computing at affordable price points, Pentium for basic computing, and of course the Intel® Atom™ processor for all these new devices ranging from netbooks to smartphones. For PC purchasing, think in terms of good-better-best with Celeron being good, Pentium better, and the Intel Core family representing the best we have to offer.
So instead of having Core, Core 2, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, and whatever else, Intel’s going to have Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, plus Pentium, Celeron, Atom, and Xeon.
Yeah, that helps. Way to go, Intel!