Here at ITSPA, part of our mission is to stay on top of the latest and greatest technology offered by the tech industry and to translate how that technology can benefit your business.

We work closely with technology consultants, also called solution providers, all across the country to keep tabs on those technologies that are relevant to small and medium businesses. One you’ll soon hear about, if you haven’t already, is dual core technology. This is a capability that you are finding in desktops, laptops and servers designed for businesses. It’s also used in high-end consumer gear designed around the heavy computing needs of gaming enthusiasts.

It’s actually a chip technology pioneered by Intel, and now also available from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and found in gear sold by companies like HP, Apple and Dell. Earlier versions of the technology have been around for about a year, and technology trade publications report that companies like Intel are betting on the next generation of this technology. Intel intends to roll out dual core through the rest of this year and hopes to play a significant role in the computer purchasing behavior of business customers. My bet? With this latest Intel push, you’ll be hearing a lot about dual core technology in the months to come.

What is Dual Core?
According to Wikipedia, dual core technology combines two independent processors and their respective temporary memory storage onto a single integrated circuit. If you are like most small business owners, this really doesn’t mean much. In plain terms, think of dual core technology as giving your computer the ability to walk and chew gum at the same time. It’s like taking a two-lane highway and doubling the number of lanes of traffic within the same space. Oh, and by the way, the latest dual core versions from Intel reduce energy consumption by up to 40 percent when they do that.

So think of it as generating lots more computing power in the same size package. While you won’t see much of a reduction in your own energy bill, my guess is that on a worldwide basis this level of reduced energy consumption in desktops, laptops and servers could be pretty significant. In today’s energy environment, every little bit helps.

In addition, the chip manufacturers like to talk about dual core technology as part of their latest “platforms." So what you are starting to see is the deployment of applications and features on these chipsets designed specifically for each target audience. That’s important going forward when you are thinking about purchasing technology, because increasingly you are going to want to make sure that you are purchasing “business class” equipment (PCs, laptops, servers, etc.) with the capabilities that businesses need and use, not consumer-oriented gear. This has been a trend with the equipment manufacturers for some time, but now the features and functionality of the actual computer brain will begin to show differentiation between consumer and business products.

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