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Intel censors Pentium III forums

Excises all references to you-know-who

The very day that Intel introduced its first 1GHz Coppermine processor, two days after AMD's release of its one gig chip, the company enforced new rules on its Pentium III product support forum. People who posted messages referring to Intel's competitor have now had their messages removed and replaced with a standard message advising them that if they want to talk about competitors' offerings, they should do so on non-Intel sites. A message asking a question about the Pentium III versus the AMD Athlon processor, for example, has the following message: "Removed as off topic. Please use an appropriate usenet group or private email to discuss products from competitors". It then refers such questions to ZD Net, computer.com and IDG forums, and gives a link to Intel's own performance benchmarks for its Coppermine processors. It adds: "Intel(R) support does not comment on the products from other companies, or offer the kind of comparison data you are looking for. Additional posts will be removed." Sources close to Intel were keen to tell The Register Wednesday last that the on-die cache on Intel Coppermines meant it performed faster than any Athlon processor, while even Intel's own press release made the same point. In additional news, Intel has given notice to its readers that it is shutting down its Intel etcetera forum, a space for off-topic comments. It has made it read only and will close it on March 10th. That has drawn adverse comments from customers. One wrote: "What a weak weak decision on Intel's part. Well, I sure am glad I won't have to be the one moderating the processor forums with no intel.etc forum to push off-topic discussions into." There is also a long thread at the Intel Pentium III processor support forum discussing availability of its Coppermine chips, with customers complaining that they're cancelling orders and being forced, despite being loyal customers, to switch to the processor that dare not speak its name... ®

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