ZDNet editors Michael Kanellos and Mary Jo Foley report that Advanced Micro Devices plans to take on Intel in the server market, enlisting one of its own competitors (Transmeta) to help out. Kanellos & Foley write . . .

“Under a complex deal yet to be announced, sources say AMD is sending to software developers computers that run on competitor Transmeta's Crusoe processor and contain a special version of Transmeta's 'code-morphing' software. The computers are designed to run a program that simulates AMD's upcoming server chip, called Sledgehammer, the sources said. In turn, Transmeta has obtained a license that will allow it to make chips that rely in part on the Sledgehammer design.”

“The licensing pact also is likely to be seen as a significant endorsement of Transmeta's code-morphing software. Code-morphing software translates instructions written for Intel- or AMD-based computers into Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) commands that can be understood by Transmeta's Crusoe chip and then back again . . .”

“Transmeta has maintained that the translation process eliminates some of the burdens involved in chip design and causes only a minimal performance hit. Critics, however, have said that it is merely a form of emulation, a cross-computer form of translation that has never been satisfactory. By adopting the software for its development systems, AMD is essentially endorsing the technology . . .”

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