Intel plans to roll out new versions of its flagship desktop chip later this year, featuring special multimedia extensions for zipping through graphics and sound-intensive tasks. Intel calls its "MMX" multimedia instruction set the most significant enhancement to the Intel chip architecture since the 386 CPU, which extended the 80x86 family to 32 bits.
While Intel's statement invites charges of public relations exaggeration, designers at software companies from Macromedia to Microsoft lining up to incorporate the new technology into their code. Users will get to see for themselves how speedy MMX really is by the fourth quarter of 1996. The first MMX-enhanced Pentium, code-named P55C, is set to begin shipping toward the end of the year, with large-volume shipments ramping up in 1997. Because MMX instructions must be built into the CPU, owners of existing 486s, or even Pentiums, won't be able to add MMX to their systems without upgrading the entire chip.
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