Some things were just made to go together (peanut butter and jelly) and some just weren’t, (those two teenagers in the Classmates.com pop-up ads). Now the embedded industry has a new mashup: Intel and Wind River Systems. The #1 chipmaker has hooked up with the #1 embedded-software company. Is this a match made in heaven or a disaster waiting to happen?

So far, I like the deal. It draws public attention to the oft-neglected embedded market, it gives Linux a boost (possibly at the expense of Microsoft), and it underscores Intel’s commitment to embedded systems. As long as PC sales were booming, Intel and AMD had an on-again, off-again relationship with embedded designers. Sometimes they liked us and sometimes they ignored us. Now that Intel has put down serious money on embedded software, we can safely assume the company is now with us for the long haul.