AMD took a big step today in its efforts to close the gap that rival Intel created when it came out with its line of quad-core processors this fall. AMD on Thursday marked its own spot in the quad-core market by demonstrating the first native quad-core x86 server processor at its annual Industry Analyst Forum in Berkeley, Calif.What will be the next big evolution in AMD's processor family won't be ready to ship until mid-2007, but the company hit a milestone by showing industry analysts and customers that it's moving along in its production cycle. more...