Tech News: An 8-Core Mac Pro

Technology just can't seem to move fast enough for many. With the recent quad-core chips released last year, Apple rolled out the company's first eight-core processor Mac system a week or two ago, in the form of a custom Mac Pro configuration. The Mac Pro, is based on a 3.0GHz, 8-core Intel Xeon Processor.

According to Apple's website, you can "Opt for the 8-core Mac Pro and you get the power of two Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Clovertown” processors running at 3.0GHz. Or choose a quad-core Mac Pro featuring two Dual-Core Intel Xeon “Woodcrest” processors and decide how fast they fly: 2.0GHz, 2.66GHz, or 3.0GHz. At 3.0GHz, the quad-core Mac Pro runs up to 2x faster than the Power Mac G5 Quad." (This paragraph was quoted ad-verbatim from Apple's website at: http://www.apple.com/macpro/)

So the question becomes "what's next". Will the PC market respond with the same? We'll have to wait.

On a separate issue, Intel's vPro technology has made its way into several manufacturer's machines. It is said to improve on security and provide Intel's Virtualization Technology (VT). Read more about it at Intel's Website at http://www.intel.com/business/vpro/