> The system includes a function that detects which type of CPU it is running on and chooses the optimal code path for that CPU. This is called a CPU dispatcher. However, the Intel CPU dispatcher does not only check which instruction set is supported by the CPU, it also checks the vendor ID string. If the vendor string says "GenuineIntel" then it uses the optimal code path. If the CPU is not from Intel then, in most cases, it will run the slowest possible version of the code, even if the CPU is fully compatible with a better version.

This is surely legal but distasteful. They are attempting to manipulate people's perception of competitors' products do that they do not switch, even when the potential performance would be the same if a fair analysis were applied.

I have been an Intel guy my whole life but I can only hope that their near monopoly is destroyed by AMD.