Why Intel x86 must die: Our cloud-centric future depends on open source chips
The new year has indeed started out with a bang for the computer industry.
Two highly publicized security flaws in the Intel x86 chip architecture have now emerged. They appear to affect other microprocessors made by AMD and designs licensed by ARM.
And they may be some of the worst computer bugs in history -- if not the worst -- because they exist in hardware, not software, and in systems that number in the billions. These flaws, known as Meltdown and Spectre, are real doozies. They are so serious and far-reaching that the only potential fix in the immediate future is a software workaround that, when implemented, may slow down certain types of workloads as much as 30 percent.
