India, Feb. 24 -- Stakes are high, not just for Intel, but also for every PC maker in the Windows ecosystem, as it battles not just a factual but also a performance perception battle against Apple and its own silicon. Intel has resoundingly delivered a performance leap with its newest chips, dubbed Panther Lake and called the Core Ultra Series 3 in more serious deliberations. This is, experientially and when verified by synthetic benchmarks, a significant leap that PC makers must do well to retain when configuring their machines - though that's where many have slipped over the years. Microsoft has some responsibility too, regarding bringing Windows on track as a reliable, stable operating system (OS).

While there will be inevitable compa...