Upgrade that CPU
For those designers working on an upgrade of an existing project, 56% say that they're employing a new processor (Figure 2). Is that because they need more performance or because the processor they'd been using is no longer in production? My guess is that it's a combination, but with a higher percentage looking for more performance. CPU vendors are very careful these days about how and when to obsolete a processor, one of a system developer's biggest fears.

As we saw in a recent Freescale announcement, the CPU vendors are trying to make it as easy as possible for designers to migrate to a higher performance processor. In the case of Freescale, they claim that designers can easily migrate from 8 to 32 bits using their Flexis family of microcontrollers. This is a good example of an incremental performance boost. But in most cases, step-function leaps of performance can only be had by switching to a new family of devices, rather than just moving up the ladder within a family.

Linux
Here's one that caught me by surprise, at least until I gave it some thought: the number of people not considering Linux for their next project jumped from 34% to 48%, and from 27% in 2005, as Figure 3 shows. Keep in mind that while the number of people using Linux is relatively high, the number of people not using it who would consider using it has dropped off. That's attributed to the fact that it's not "new" anymore. A higher percentage of those who would consider it have already done so.

Editorial Review Board Member Bill Gatliff thinks that we're finally turning the hype corner on Linux and realizing it's not right for all applications. "People are getting realistic about it."

Here's what Barr had to say: "I was surprised a few years ago at how strongly Linux came on. There always seem to be some interesting new technologies, but they are not always adopted. But Linux actually succeeded, and a lot of people were using it in telecomm apps and so on, for stuff that looks like a PC. Clearly that trend is continuing, but obviously at a slower pace."

And it's not rocket science as to what the number one reason is that people are interested in Linux: cost (Figure 4). A reason people are shying away from Linux is that the cost numbers between forecast and actual didn't exactly add up. While the kernel itself may have been free or relatively inexpensive, the support costs climbed faster than expected. And third-party tools were required to implement application-specific functions, which also adds to the cost.