Transmeta's family of Crusoe microprocessors has been specifically designed to solve the problems of mobile and Internet computing in ways other processors could not. But even after four years of its launch, Crusoe has not posed any significant threat to Intel's mobile computing microprocessor Centrino, which seems to be going from strength to strength. Critics wonder what the future holds for Crusoe.

Transmeta, a publicly traded company located in Santa Clara, California, developed software-based microprocessors and other hardware and software echnologies that enabled computers to combine long battery life with high performance. Transmeta's family of Crusoe microprocessors was targeted at the notebook and Internet appliance segments of the mobile Internet computer market, as well as ultradense servers 2 and a range of embedded applications. Transmeta had about 300 employees in the United States, Japan, and Taiwan. By the end of 2000, cashing in on the buzz it created in the market, Transmeta had made its hugely successful IPO. The share price at one point of time hit $45.

nto a market over which Intel traditionally had a stranglehold. Crusoe was unlike other products that had come before it. It was specifically designed to solve the problems of mobile and Internet computing in ways other processors could not.

Transmeta believed a new architectural approach was needed to tap the full potential of the mobile computing market and Crusoe would achieve it. Crusoe architecture relied on software to perform a range of functions that were performed by hardware in similar processors offered by competitors. This repartitioning of functionality created a great deal of flexibility in offering solutions that were more tailored to specific market segments.

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