AMD Buys ATI

So, yes, what you’ve heard is true: CPU maker AMD bought GPU maker ATI for more money than you, your children, and your grandchildren combined will ever see, with plenty left over to buy round-trip tickets on Virgin Galactic for everyone attending the Los Angeles premiere of Snakes on a Plane.

But the merger won’t even receive the OK from the government until later this year, so it won’t be until well into 2007 before we start seeing plans form as a result of the acquisition.

And when we do, the first pups the two companies will raise are likely to be less interesting to hardcore gamers; namely, CPU and GPU combination processors for mobile computing. There’s good reason to believe, however, that AMD’s friendliness to gamers and the open-source community may spill over into ATI’s heart, possibly leading to driver packages for Linux. And if Linux starts looking like a burgeoning platform for gamers, Microsoft, and Windows Vista, will have a very interesting year ahead of them, with lots of chair-throwing from Mr. Ballmer.