As anticipated, today Intel released their new Core 2 Duo processor.  What wasn't expected was that Intel released it early, in advance of the anticipated July 27th date at their IDF conference.  What does this mean?  It means that you may be able to order one today, but likely won't receive it until late July/early August.  All the major (and many of the smaller) system manufacturers including Dell, Gateway, HP, Falcon Northwest, and Velocity Micro will have them in time for the fall buying season.  Core 2 will replace Pentium as Intel's line of desktop processors.

->Interview: Listen to Joel's analysis on this week's Gearlog Radio.  Download the MP3: Gearlog Radio: Up Close with Intel's Core 2 Duo A.K.A. Conroe, and More!

Core 2 Duo will have a lot of enhancements that leverage esoteric technologies like 64-bit processing and virtualization, but Core 2 Duo also runs under less strenuous power limits, so systems with Core 2 Duo are likely to run cooler and therefore quieter.  Oh yeah, and it's FAST!  See my piece on pcmag.com for more on Conroe.

I got to review an uber-class Falcon Northwest Mach V system with Core 2 Extreme, as well as a more mainstream sub-$1,000 Velocity Micro Vector GX Campus Edition with Core 2 Duo.  Both now lead their respective categories as PCmag Editors' Choices.

Check in with pcmag.com and gearlog.com for more Core 2 system reviews as time goes by.