While SATA has become the standard for hard drives, most optical drives still use the old ATAPI interface. According to DigiTimes, this is about to change. Thanks in part to Intel's P965 chipset and Microsoft's Vista operating system, SATA is expected to become the standard on optical drives as early as the second half of 2007.
Intel's P965 chipset and Microsoft's Vista operating system are expected to speed up adoption of SATA (serial advanced technology attachment) and displace ATAPI (ATA packet interface) as the mainstream interface standard for optical drives in the second half of 2007, according to optical disc drive (ODD) manufacturers in Taiwan.
Following LG, Plextor, Sony and Taiwan-based Asustek, Pioneer and Panasonic as well as Taiwan-based Lite-On IT will soon offer DVD-ROM drives or DVD burners equipped with SATA interfaces, the sources indicated.
While we've had a few SATA drives in the 'Labs, they've been few and far between. Hopefully this report is true and we'll be seeing more of them next year. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes.
