Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[sgolds]

blauboad, I totally agree! Over the years, IBM has generally chosen to side with the underdog so that the market remains competitive and they minimize the chance of being beholden to a monopoly. Some famous examples:

1. Chose little Intel over big Motorola for the first PC processor.
2. Chose little Microsoft over Digital Research (CPM) or UNIX for the operating system.
3. Chose EasyWriter over Wang for the first PC word processor.
4. Chose 3Com/Microsoft networking over Netware.
5. Supported Cyrix over Intel when Intel got too big (but Cyrix screwed up).
6. Now supports Linux over Windows for the server OS.

and most importantly for us now:

7. Supports AMD manufacturing as a counterweight to Intel, on board as first major Opteron OEM.

This is AMD's secret weapon: No one wants to be held hostage to Intel, so AMD finds friends in tough times.