From...

Background: David Ditzel, CEO: former chief scientist of the chip development project at Sun that produced the SPARC processors, one of the most successful RISC CPUs. Linus Torvalds: 'Father' of Linux, the celebrated open-source operating system. The Finland-native is a headliner at Transmeta, which will create mobile gadgets based on Linux. Paul Allen: One of the major investors in Transmeta. Paul Allen founded Microsoft along with Bill Gates, and currently owns the NFL Seattle Seahawks and NBA Portland Trailblazers. Dave Taylor: A programmer at Transmeta, Taylor used to work at Id Software where he was part of the design team that created the Doom and Quake games.

January 19, 2000
Web posted at: 1:59 p.m. EST (1859 GMT)

by Ephraim Schwartz and James Niccolai

SAN FRANCISCO (IDG) -- The long anticipated processor from the secretive startup Transmeta Corp. was finally unveiled Wednesday. Called Crusoe, the chip has been best known for one of its main backers, Linus Torvalds, rather than its technology, until now.

The heart of the technology is a microprocessor that attempts to remove the complexity and expense of designing a processor by putting that complexity into software rather than into silicon.

David Ditzel, chief executive officer of Transmeta, called the software "code-morphing software" because it translates the instruction set to the simplified processor.

Two chips were unveiled: the TM5400, a 700MHz processor for lightweight notebook computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, and the TM3120, a 400MHz processor for Internet appliances running the Linux OS.

The processors will be marketed for the mobile market and consume an average of 1 watt of power, which, according to Ditzel, will greatly enhance battery life.