Intel has decided to name its next-generation processor Core 2 Duo, so we can throw away those weird-sounding meaningless codenames such as Conroe (the desktop version) and Merom (the notebook version), and get on with the next version of Intel's dual core chips. Keeping with this numerical naming scheme, Intel will also call its next single-core chips Core 2 Solo, and will also bring back the "Extreme" designation it used with Pentiums, showing us a Core 2 Duo Extreme processor for gamers at some unknown time in the future.
To tell the Conroes from the Meroms, Intel will add numbers to the end of each chip name between the 4000s to 6000s for Conroe processors and the 5000s to 7000s for Merom. These numbers get higher as the clock speed increases, where the Core 2 Duo processors are expected to launch with five versions starting with the 4200 model at 1.6GHz, up to the fastest 6700 model at 2.66GHz. Look for these new processors to be available in the third quarter of this year.
The second coming of Intel's Core Duo [c|net, via ars technica]