Wintel What?

Wintel no more.

The term “Wintel” was coined earlier when Microsoft and Intel was inseparable from each other. Intel and Microsoft has been tight for so many years helping each other out with every release of their product. Intel has installed and implemented every generation of Microsoft’s Windows while Microsoft has promoted Intel at every chance they get.

That relationships seems to end as Intel snubbed the biggest Windows launch ever by skipping the adoption and probably waiting for Windows 7 instead.

Even when Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, is frequently meeting Intel CEO, Paul Otellini, it has not compelled the hardware giant to implement Windows Vista to its 80,000 employees.

It was reported that Intel made a comprehensive report of cost benefit analysis on migrating to Windows Vista and found out it brought little uptake to their present Windows XP installation. New York times has reported on this but the person who revealed about the comprehensive report remained anonymous as it could bring damage to their relationship with Microsoft.

The biggest problem with Vista is their hardware requirements and putting in an additional 200 to 300 USD on their hardware requirements multiplied by say Intel’s 80,000 employees would cost them 16 to 24 million dollars on hardware alone.

Nonetheless, Intel has profited billions of dollars on sales from their Microsoft installed computers and spending a few tens of a millions looks very small in preserving their “Wintel” relationship with the software giant.