A YEAR OF CHANGES

IN A FLURRY of announcements last year, Intel shook the desktop and mobile scene with a number of back to back CPU releases. It was the first time that the CPU giant veered off its normal TickTock release schedule. Not only was it confusing to the market, but it became apparent its Skylake CPUs were a detour from the real destination: Kaby Lake.

The new CPU architecture brings with it a sea of changes, which include a brand new 200 Series chipset, higher clock speeds, improved integrated graphics, hics, more PCIe lanes, and support for Intel’s tel’s new Optane storage—you know, the really crazy fast storage Intel has been boasting about. Apparently, Optane e is supposed to give current NVMe drives ves a run for their money.

Kaby Lake will bring us full-fledged into 2017, a year of more innovation and excitement for the industry. 2016 was the year for VR. But VR kind of showed up with a huge hurrah, and then the excitement fizzled. However, Microsoft recently made a huge announcement that would help catapult both the VR and AR industries forward. We’re going to see faster everything, with lower price points than before, all in the name of change.

I’m all for change, especially on such a vibrant platform. Everything started pointing back toward the PC in 2016, and there’s never been a better time to be out with the old and in with the new. Tu an Nguyen is Maximum PC’s editor-inchief, also known as“the pointy end of the stick .” He’ s been writing, marketing, and raising hell in the te chi nd us try for 19 years.