It’s all a bit confusing, because it is difficult to see how a CPU like the Pentium can successfully run a signal processing operating system at all efficiently, but according to US PC Week, Intel Corp will this week discuss plans to run a version of Spectron Microsystems Inc’s SPOX signal processor operating system – which has been enthusiasatically endorsed by Microsoft Corp – on Pentium microprocessors. A new version of the Santa Barbara, California company’s SPOX, called IA-SPOX, for the Pentium, is expected in the first quarter of next year, and the paper says IA-Spox enables users to perform signal processing functions directly on the CPU, rather than requiring add-on signal procesor boards for digital video and audio capture and playback, and telephony functions. One aim of the alliance is to get more users moving to Pentium, because even a 66MHz 80486 will not be fast enough to run the software.
