History

• The Intel Pentium computer microprocessor was not the first processor on the market for computers. Introduced in 1993, the chip was a product line of Intel under the name of Pentium. Prior to the Pentium line, Intel used numbers to identify their products. With the advent of Pentium, the company began to market computer processors under names instead of numbers, which led to the introduction of the Intel Pentium computer microprocessor. Pentium computer chips had a 13-year run.
  
  

Purpose

• With the introduction of a name brand computer processor, Intel began marketing their products with the "Intel Inside" slogan. This slogan was to signify to computer buyers that the computer literally contained an Intel Pentium computer processor. The marketing campaign was designed to attract a larger customer base and increase the market share of the company, thereby driving profits up.
  
  

Usage

• The Pentium computer processor is the most used computer processor for general purposes around the world, according to the PC Magazine. The processor can be found on most non-Apple computers that are sold. As of January 2010, the Pentium processor's parent company, Intel, held over 80 percent of the global market for 2009, losing some ground from the 81.5 percent reported the year before. Intel's main competitor is the AMD brand computer chip, according to ComputerWorld.
  
  

Series

• Since Intel introduced the Pentium computer processor in 1993, Intel has introduced a steady flow of Pentium lines. As of 2010, there have been seven different versions of Intel chips. The most recent has been the Intel Pentium 4 Dual Cores, which were introduced in 2005, according to PCMag.
  
  

Next Generation

• Since the latest introduction of the Pentium in 2006, Intel has phased out the brand name of Pentium and introduced the "Core" moniker in its place. The first generation of the Core computer processor was based on the Pentium M processor. As of 2010, Intel focuses on the Core brand name of computer processors and not the Pentium brand name. The latest chip by Intel was the Core i7, as noted by PC Magazine.