It looks like Intel will get rid of DIMM support for future Atom desktop platforms, popularly known as nettops. The one that comes out in January, codenamed Pine Trail-D, will have support for single channel DDR2 memory DIMM modules, but the one that will follow in 2011 supports only SODIMMs.

This will increase the price of the system as SODIMM, a memory standard traditionally used in notebooks, is somewhat more expensive.

Cedar Trail-D platform supports single channel DDR3 in SODIMMs in DDR3 1066 iteration, which should be fast enough to support this platform. We already said that there will be support for two memory modules but both will have to be SODIMM.

By the middle of 2011 prices of DDR3 DIMM should be at an acceptable rate, as DDR3 will become the predominant memory on the market and with notebooks taking over more and more market, the price of SODIMM DDR3 modules for Cedar Trail-D platform should not increase the system price by much.

Intel has made a decision and we, the consumers didn't have much voice in the decision.