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The evolution of CPU: The future of processors in the next 10 years

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One thing is clear — the CPU won’t be the way it used to be. It isn’t going to be just better, it’s going to be different. When it comes to modern technology, time flies really fast. If you think about the central processing unit, you’ll probably imagine one of AMD or Intel’s creations.

The CPU has undergone many transformations to become what it looks like today. The first major challenge it faced dates back to the early 2000s when the battle for performance was in full swing.

Back then, the main rivals were AMD and Intel. At first, the two struggled to increase clock speed. This lasted for quite a while and didn’t require much effort. However, due to the laws of physics, this rapid growth was doomed to come to an end.

According to Moore’s Law, the number of transistors on a chip was to double every 24 months. Processors had to become smaller to accommodate more transistors. It would definitely mean better performance. However, the resultant increase in temperature would require massive cooling. Therefore, the race for speed ended up being the fight against the laws of physics.

It didn’t take long for the solution to appear. Instead of increasing clock speeds, producers introduced multiple-core chips in which each core had the same clock speed. Thanks to that, computers could be more effective in performing multiple tasks at the same time.

The strategy ultimately prevailed but it had its drawbacks, too. Introduction of multiple cores required developers to come up with different algorithms so the improvements could be noticeable. This wasn’t always easy in the gaming industry where the CPU’s performance had always been one of the most important characteristics.

Another problem is that the more cores you have, the harder it is to operate them. It is also difficult to come up with a proper code that would work well with all the cores. In fact, if it was possible to develop a 150 GHz single-core unit, it would be a perfect machine. However, silicon chips can’t be clocked up that fast due to the laws of physics.

The problem became so widely discussed that even the education sector joined in. If you have to come up with a paper related to this or a similar issue, you can turn to a custom essay service to ensure the best quality. Anyway, we will try to figure out the future of the chips ourselves.

H2: Quantum Computing

Quantum computing is based on quantum physics and the power of subatomic particles. Machines based on this technology are a lot different from the ones we have in our homes. For example, conventional computers use bits and bytes, whilst quantum machines are all about the use of qubits. Two bytes can have only one of these: 0-0, 0-1, 1-0, or 1-1. Qubits can store all of them at the same time, which allows quantum computers to process an immense amount of data simultaneously.

There is one more thing you should know about quantum electronics, namely quantum entanglement. The thing is that quantum particles exist in pairs. If one particle reacts in a particular way, the other one does the same. This property has been used by the military for some time in their attempts to replace the standard radar. One of the two particles is sent into the sky, and if it interacts with an object, its ‘ground-based’  counterpart reacts as well.

Quantum technology can also be used to process an immense amount of information. Unlike conventional computers, qubit-based ones process data thousands of times faster. Apart from that, forecasting and modeling complex scenarios are where quantum computers excel as well. They are capable of modeling various environments and outcomes, and as such can be extensively used in physics, chemistry, pharmaceutics, weather forecasting, etc.

However, there are some drawbacks, too. Such computers aren’t of much use these days and can serve only for certain purposes. This is mainly because they require special lab equipment and are too expensive to operate.

There is another issue connected with the development of the quantum computer. The top speed at which silicon chips can operate today is much lower than the one needed to test quantum technologies.

H2: Graphene Computers

Discovered in 2004, graphene gave rise to a new wave of research in electronics. This super-effective material possesses a couple of features which will allow it to become the future of computing.

Firstly, it is capable of conducting heat faster than any other conductor used in electronics, including copper. It can also carry electricity two hundred times faster than silicon.

The top clock speed silicon-based chips can work at reaches 3-4 GHz. This figure hasn’t changed since 2005 when the race for speed challenged physical properties of silicon and brought them to the limit. Since then, scientists have been looking for a solution that could allow us to overcome the maximum clock speed that silicon chips can provide. And that’s when the discovery of graphene was made.

Thanks to graphene, scientists managed to achieve a speed which was a thousand times higher than that of silicon chips. Graphene-based CPUs turned out to consume a hundred times less energy than their silicon counterparts. On top of that, they also allow for smaller size and greater functionality of the devices having them.

Today, there is no actual prototype of this computing system. It still exists only on paper. But the scientists are struggling to come up with a real model that will revolutionize the world of computing.

However, there is one drawback. Silicon serves as a good semiconductor that is able not only to carry electricity but also to retain it. Graphene, on the other hand, is a ‘superconductor’ that carries electricity at a super-high speed but cannot retain the charge.

As we all know well, the binary system requires transistors to turn on and off when we need them to. It lets the system retain a signal in order to save some data for later use. For example, it is vital for RAM chips to keep the signal. Otherwise, our programs would shut down the moment they opened.

Graphene fails to retain signals because it carries electricity so fast that there is almost no time between the ‘on’ and ‘off’ signals. It doesn’t mean that there is no place for graphene-based technologies in computing. They still can be used to deliver data at the top speed and could probably be used in chips if they are combined with another technology.

Apart from the quantum and graphene technologies, there are some other ways for the CPU to develop in the future. Nevertheless, none of them seems to be more realistic than these two.

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Computers

What Middle-Aged Women Can Add to Gaming

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Housemarque has a new video game that struck me as so unique and fascinating that I was compelled to buy it.

I made the decision to buy the game without watching a ton of demos or reading up on internet reviews.

It was a no brainer. From the trailer, I could already tell that Returnal was similar to many other games. It was about a strong, smart, and capable protagonist who had to conquer the odds. That is not what compelled me to make the purchase.

The main character Selene is a woman. That in itself is an anomaly. But what makes her even more of an oddity is her age. Selene is a middle-aged woman.

Female videogame characters are typically youthful and sexy. The few who are not young are elderly women revered for their wisdom or hated for their villainy.

So a middle-aged female lead captured my attention so strongly that I just had to buy it.

I could finally see someone like myself in a game. You see, I am a 50-year-old woman who has recently found out that (surprise!) middle age is not exactly what I thought it would be.

At 50, I do not feel young. I do not feel old either. My body is not as fast as it was in my youth, even though I am in good shape.

In fact, I feel like I am at my best ever. But there is a certain invisibility that middle aged women can all identify with.

People can be rather awkward around a 50-year-old woman. Rarely do they start conversations. When they do talk to you, they ask about your children.

This adds another layer of awkwardness and invisibility for me as a childless woman.

With no children, they cannot imagine anything else to talk about.

When you find a woman in a game, she could be a companion or just there to add color to a party. She is not the star.

We can all remember how big of a shock it was for fans of Metroid to discover that the hero they had admired for so long was really a woman.

It was supposed to be a shocking plot twist. And it did shock many.

Today, gamers who want to play as women have many more opportunities than ever before. Some games even allow you to create the character you want to play.

But these female characters are almost invariably young.

To be honest, there are advantages to playing younger characters. Younger bodies are stronger and more agile. So it makes sense to have a main character in their 20s or 30s.

In Tomb Raider’s 2013 reboot, Lara Croft’s youth and experience are a huge part of what makes the story powerfully inspiring.

She was a fresh college graduate who found herself alone and injured after surviving a shipwreck.

Her inexperience meant that she had to challenge herself in ways she had never done before. She was discovering her own strength and we were there to watch her develop resilience. It was an awesome journey.

As a 50-year-old gamer, I cannot help but imagine what Lara Croft would be like two or three decades older. What challenges would she face? How would she tackle them? What allies and enemies would she have acquired along the way?

We have no way of knowing. Because the creators are not particularly interested in Lara Croft post 30.

At this point, you are probably wondering just how many gamers are wondering about the same thing I am wondering about.

I looked up the numbers, and female gamers my age are almost as many as male gamers. There is only a 2% difference in the numbers.

My point is that if we can have such a variety of middle-aged male characters, then women my age deserve representation, too.

I would love to see more female gaming characters who are my age saving the world, solving mysteries, and slaying the occasional dragon.

Speaking of dragons, I can remember when the dragons in video games looked more like ducks than dragons.

Not too long ago, Ubisoft argued that they could not increase the playable female assassins in Assassins Creed because they were difficult to animate.

We have made some progress since then, thankfully. But we still have a long way to go.

I love that Selene features on the cover and stars in the game. I feel validated by her presence.

Selene represents the best aspects of being middle aged. Young people are more ambitious but also vulnerable to people-pleasing.

Selene comes armed with life experience the way only a middle-aged woman can be.

She is sure of herself and understands who she is and what she stands for. She is guided by her own internal compass and not other people’s opinions.

She has the confidence to steal a spaceship and go on a mysterious quest.

She is decisive and confident in her ability to handle whatever comes her way. She goes after what she wants without apology. I would love to see more characters like Selene.

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Microsoft and AMD Team up to Offer Goodies to Customers

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If you treated yourself to an AMD-powered Gaming PC or upgraded to one, you could ensure that you were getting genuine Windows 10 and get a fun gift to go with your purchase.

Not all vendors had this offer, so you had to check out the list of partners who have this offer by looking at the table of selected partners. Choose the partner closest to you in India.

Microsoft and AMD partnered to offer consumers a special gift to go with the new AMD powered PC.

All buyers who took advantage of the offer had to write their details on a form.

If you are wondering what else came with the purchase, consumers received gaming accessories like gamepads, keyboards, headsets, and mice.

The offer was on for customers who wanted to upgrade an existing AMD-powered desktop to Windows 10.

Here’s why Genuine Windows 10 OS is so Important

It’s more Secure

When you are working with genuine Windows 10 software, you can download security updates as frequently as they are provided by Microsoft.

Security experts are constantly getting better at sealing loopholes, which means that Microsoft is always releasing new updates to fix issues.

When you are not working with genuine Windows, you will probably be using older versions of Windows that are more vulnerable to hackers and malware attacks.

It works Better

Microsoft is constantly improving on their gaming-related built-in features {and everything else, really). You definitely want to work with the latest version of Microsoft because will give you the best gaming experience you can get.

You Only have to Buy it Once

When you buy genuine Windows 10 Operating System, you own it. You can still use the same OS even when you upgrade to a new Windows PC. The minute you log into your account, you will be able to experience all the benefits of the Windows 10 without having to buy a new one.

List of Gaming Partners

We haven’t fully covered the reasons why genuine Windows 10 is so good for you. Besides these benefits, you are still guaranteed a free gift to go with your purchase. Now is definitely a good time to upgrade.

Customers had to purchase their new AMD Gaming Desktop PC between March 25th, 2021 and March 31st to take advantage of the offer.

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Computers

Microsoft to Synchronize Edge release Schedule to Google’s Chrome

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Microsoft is going to change its release time table for Edge to Chrome’s four-week interval between releases that Google announced recently.

Google announced that it would start following a four-week pace just recently and Microsoft had no choice but to follow suit.

“As contributors to the Chromium project, we look forward to the new 4-week major release cycle cadence that Google announced, to help deliver that innovation to our customers even faster,” Edge announced on their company blog on March 12th.

Just a week earlier, Google had announced its intention to release Chrome at a faster pace to keep up with Mozilla’s Firefox which was following a four-week release schedule instead of a four-week schedule.

Chrome 94 is coming out on September 21st. Chrome 95 will launch on October 19th. Microsoft will follow the same cycle. Microsoft announced that the new release cycle will begin with the Edge 94.

It has been customary for Microsoft to come out with a corresponding Edge every two days after a Chrome upgrade.

Google’s updates come out on Tuesdays, and this means that Microsoft’s comes out each Thursday. Edge 94 will therefore come out on 23rd and Edge 95 on October 21st.

Microsoft Edge is an open-source venture that builds and maintains Chrome’s core technologies. From January 2020, Edge has timed its releases to coincide with Chrome’s. It is a better alternative to delaying the release of Edge.

Chrome runs on multiple browsers, but Google has more control over it than Opera, Brave, Edge, or any of the other browsers. Google created Chromium and Google Engineers do most of the work. It is not yet clear what role Microsoft played in accelerating the release of Chrome.

If things go as Google has planned, Microsoft will offer a different version of Edge for commercial users that will last longer in between upgrades.

This release will come out at eight-week intervals instead of four weeks. Security upgrades every two weeks will provide service.

Only those organizations that have the capacity to manage their own machines will access the Extended Stable.

But even Chrome and Edge’s new eight-week release time table seems brief when compared with Firefox’ Extended Support Release that lasts at least a year with only security updates in between.

Microsoft observed yet another milestone on March 9th when it stopped supporting the original Microsoft Edge browser.

The legacy Microsoft Edge was launched with Windows 10 in 2015 but it did not gain traction. Microsoft preferred to dump its own technology for Chromium’s instead of wasting their hard work. The first new Edge for Chromium came out a year and two months ago.

Now that there is no more support for Microsoft Edge, users will run the software at their own risk, without Microsoft to fix hitches. Microsoft is preparing users to take up Edge on Chromium instead of moving to Firefox or Chrome.

This is why the Windows 10 update coming up next month will automatically remove the original Edge and install a new version.

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