Intel plans to make sure all of its popular Atom microprocessors support at least two versions of Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7, in the second half of this year.
The chip maker will implant support for the Starter and Basic editions of Windows 7 in Atom, Anand Chandrasekher, Intel's head of Ultra Mobility said at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Beijing on Wednesday.
Intel designed Atom microprocessors for mobile devices such as netbooks, which are down-sized laptops, as well as small, handheld computers it calls mobile Internet devices (MIDs).
The chips will also support the newest version of the Linux OS that Intel developed for small devices, Moblin v2.0. The alpha version of Moblin v2.0 is already available on the moblin.org Web site.
Microsoft's Windows XP Home and Windows Vista Basic will continue to be supported by Atom microprocessors in the second half, Intel said.