Can't wait for an Ivy Bridge system running the next version of Microsoft's OS? Be patient.
Ivy Bridge will highlight Intel's emphasis on power-efficiency and graphics performance, but one key ingredient will be missing -- Windows 8.
Intel's Ivy Bridge chip is expected to be announced Monday, opening the floodgates for new desktops and laptops built around the chipmaker's first 22-nanometer processor. Generally, the smaller the chip geometries, the faster and/or more power efficient the silicon is. Intel's current Sandy Bridge processors use "fatter" 32-nanometer technology.
How small is 22 nanometers? More than six million 22-nanometer transistors could fit in the period at the end of this sentence, according to Intel.
