Although Intel is very keen on pushing its new Atom platform, it has imposed some rather strict restrictions on the motherboard manufacturers that have signed up to make suitable boards for the Atom range of processors for desktop systems.

So, those hoping to find a suitable board for their next HTPC platform will be disappointed, at least for now, as Intel won't allow it. The restrictions involve the onboard audio, the add-on card slots, the video outputs and some other things.

Intel has also made OEMs sign contracts with them so that the Atom processors won't appear in set top boxes or other devices which Intel hasn't approved for the processors to appear in. Hopefully, this will change in the future, as the Atom processors have a lot of potential, but for now Intel only wants the desktop parts in certain kind of systems.

VIA might be the key to change this, as they have no restricitions when it comes to the usage of their upcoming Isaiah processor and it should hopefully prove to be nearly or as good as Intel's single core Atom processors.