Moore’s Law, one of the most prescient observations made about the
increasing power of computer processors that has become accepted theory
and practice for almost 50 years, may soon be no more.
Intel has made great advances with the latest Haswell processor
This is the news, that barring some sort of technological
breakthrough, the practical limits on improvement of copper on silicon
technology (microchips) may have already reached the practical limit of
what can be achieved.
According to Moore’s Law, originally published in a 1965
research
paper, by none other than Intel co-founder, Gordon Moore, the number of
transistors capable of being placed onto an integrated circuit board
doubles every two years, and consequently it was postulated that
processing power also doubles.
Although something of a hypothetical back in the sixties, the theory
was soon proven to be true, sort of, or was at least close enough to the
truth that now iconic piece of thinking became universally known as
Moore’s law.
Experts have now predicted
however
that it will be nigh on impossible to shrink transistors any further by
the year 2021. That is at least from an economically viable
perspective. While it theoretically possible to make transistors smaller
and smaller, after a certain point the costs involved become
exponentially prohibitive, and also begins to involve quantum mechanics.
Moore’s law worked around the idea that the reason behind integrated
circuits were and would become more powerful every 2 years or so, was
because there was a
demand
for ever more powerful electronics. However, getting around the
problems that come with working around quantum physics would probably
bankrupt any company that tried to do it.
An end to the future?
No. Probably.
Because as we’ve already seen, there are always possibilities and new
ways of thinking. We’ve already gotten used to the idea dual, quad, and
even 20 core processors in computers, where technology and economic
limits of single processors has been bypassed by getting more done with
several side by side.
The next step will probably see the extension into 3D, but unlike 3D
TVs, this will probably work. Current generation processors are
essentially built on a 2D plane. The next generation may see
transistors being stacked on top of each other, to break through the
barrier of the end of Moore’s law.
But as always, it will be time that tells.
Microsoft is planning to start pushing out the free Windows 10 Creators Updateon April 11. As is often the case, this will be a gradual rollout, meaning not everyone will get the update on day one. Microsoft will slowly ramp up the update’s release — but starting today, you can get the latest build of Windows 10 without waiting.
You can use the Windows 10 Update Assistant to avoid having to convince Windows Update to serve the Creators Update to you. On the Windows 10 computer you want to update, head to microsoft.com/software-download/windows10 and click the blue “Update now” button. This will download the Windows 10 Update Assistant (about 6MB).
After opening the downloaded file, you should see a screen like the one below. Click on the “Update Now” button at the bottom right.
The assistant will perform basic checks on your hardware and start the download process if everything looks good (it should be if you already have Windows 10 installed). You can keep using your computer while the update downloads, choose when to actually update, and roll it back if you do not like the Creators Update.
After verifying the download, the assistant will start preparing the update process automatically.
The assistant will automatically restart your computer after a 30-minute countdown. The actual installation can take up to 90 minutes. Click the “Restart now” button in the bottom right or the “Restart later” in the bottom left to delay it.
After your computer restarts, the setup will ask you to verify Windows 10’s privacy settings. Then you can sign in and Windows 10 will go through the final steps to finish installing the update. Finally, Edge will open up and greet you with a “Welcome to the Windows 10 Creators Update” message.
Installing large Windows 10 updates is a long process, but Microsoft has made it quite smooth overall. Given that the update is free, there is no reason for you not to get it as soon as possible.
