From the introduction of Intel's 4004 chip in 1971 to today's quad-core desktop chips with four processing engines, the evolution of the commercial microprocessor has come a long way in just 35 years.

I've been writing on CPU technology here at Ars for almost five years now, and during that time I've done my best to communicate computing concepts in as plain and accessible a manner as possible ...

The big picture: Intel forever changed the trajectory of computing - and really, human history - with the introduction of the first commercially available microprocessor. The Intel 4004 launched 50 ...