[mazack]

If this were the case, do you think that there would be an AMD/ATI/Microsoft vs. Intel/nVidia/Apple war ahead?

Apple and Intel have already teamed up, and AMD and Microsoft worked closely on the Athlon XP.

It seems like if this happened, then we'd be headed for fragmentation in the PC market and eventually incompatibility between hardware.

Sure, x86 compatibility would remain, but in the future it might end up being a "VHS vs. Beta" all over again.

[catbertz]

If this were the case, do you think that there would be an AMD/ATI/Microsoft vs. Intel/nVidia/Apple war ahead?

I don't see any chance of that happening. Intel and MS are joined at the hip, and Apple is an afterthought in the marketshare race. This will be squarely between Intel and AMD/ATI. They are shaping the battlefield for future platform generations.

I'm curious what Nvidia will do. Will they cozy up to Intel, or try to remain independant?