A major event in the superconductor/computing industry was the announcement by Intel of the Atom line of computer processors. The Atom CPU is an entirely new type of processor, built from the ground up to consume low power while delivering great performance. Size wise, it's among the smallest commercial CPUs on the market. In terms of architecture, it is far less complex than the Core 2 Duo as it runs on a single core processor.
The Atom CPU has been designed specifically for low power applications and systems. If you try and put it into your desktop and play the latest games with it, you will be hugely disappointed (and doing your desktop a big disfavor). The Atom CPU was meant for lower power systems such as netbooks or entry level notebooks, where its tiny size and lower power consumption come very handy.
For everyday work such as surfing the internet, writing a letter, listening to a few songs, etc. without much multi-tasking, the Atom CPU is brilliant, delivering performance in a small package. If that is the primary nature of your work, you'll find it to be a delightful, cost-effective solution. However, if you need to open multiple applications simultaneously, or need the computer to do anything beyond basic functions, the Atom CPU will turn out to be a major disappointment. Don't even think about playing games, editing movies, using Photoshop, or running movies in full HD on an Atom based system. Limit yourself to surfing and occasional Word use, and you'll do more than fine.
The Atom CPU is designed for one thing and one thing only: deliver reasonable performance while consuming little power and occupying very little space. It's great for netbooks, not so great for more powerful systems. Before you decide on purchasing one, analyze your computing requirements carefully lest you be stuck with an underpowered system that just cannot do what you want it to do.
