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For the past year the Intel Atom processor has been the default netbook processor.  It’s small, efficient, and fast enough to run the small machines.  The next version of the Atom, code named “Pine Trail” is due out by early 2010 at the latest.  It will feature graphics on the CPU and as a result be more energy efficient.  Now it looks like Intel wants to make the Atom processors faster.

According to Intel Executive Vice President Sean Maloney, the next generation of the Atom will prove to be faster than the 1.6GHz versions we have right now.  This would put the Atom on a similar “tick-tock” routine that the other processors now follow.  The tick-tock refers to each year alternating between advancing the architecture and the manufacturing process technology.  For netbooks, however, it’s unlikely well see more than just speed increases.  As of now, dual-core Atoms use far too much power and are better suited for the nettops they call home now.

Faster Atom chips would certainly be a welcome addition to netbooks.  Sure, they’re only meant for light usage, but faster processors will make them that much better.  There are some users who treat netbooks as more than what they are and load them up with data and applications, which will cause them to run even slower than usual.  Faster Atom chips would certainly help in that regard.  Next all they need is 2 GB of RAM to be standard to go with those faster processors and perhaps netbooks could be more usable to more people.

Read [CNet News]