Comments on: Justifying the Intel inside government contracts

Federal agencies must now publish a rationale for use of all brand names, including those of PC chips.

[KTLA_knew]

x86

Unfortunately for AMD (up to this point) what the gov't really meant when they specified an "Intel" system was "x86-compatible".

Now they can just say "x86-compatible" (or x64/AMD64), and call it good.

[No_Man]

That's the point

Thus far AMD has been locked out of gov't contracts by the specific
requirement of Intel processors. By generalizing the term to x86-
compatible, they stand a chance of sneaking in at least a few sales
to contractors who would prefer AMD over Intel, but were confined
by the specs to use Intel anyway.

[madasheck]

What about computer OS's

Does this mean that the government will have to explain why a requirement that new computers have a Microsoft operating system installed is more cost effective than using Open Source software?

[KTLA_knew]

Not OSs

This change is about specifying a brand when there is a fully interchangable competitor.

The government can no longer specify ACME screws when ACE makes exactly the same screw, and there's not reason to choose one over the other.

They can still specify a bolt versus a screw, which would be more akin to specifying Windows versus OS X. The two are not interchangable.