Richardson, Texas based microprocessor designer Cyrix Corp plans to sample the M2, a multimedia optimized version of a Pentium Pro class microprocessor, in the fourth quarter. Unlike Intel Corp’s Pentium Pro, which is currently aimed at servers, the Cyrix M2 is for desktop personal computers. Talks are on to establish a third foundry partner but for the moment its processors are fabricated by IBM Corp and SGS-Thomson Microelectronics NV on a one for one basis – which means that they keep one for themselves for each one they make for Cyrix. M2 is claimed to run both 16- bit and 32-bit code faster than Pentium Pro when running Windows95. The company intends to have a P7-class microprocessor ready sometime next year.
