SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY : Western Digital Says Its New Chip Speeds Windows Program

Western Digital Corp., a manufacturer of personal computer parts in Irvine, said Monday that it is introducing two computer chips, including one that it said would boost the speed of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 3.0 program by as much as 1,000%.

The company’s new WD90C31 graphics chip speeds Windows, the program that makes PCs easier to use by presenting data graphically, by shifting some of the workload from software to hardware, company spokeswomen Letty Ledbetter said.

Working with Microsoft, Western Digital designed its chip to assume some of the functions that slowed down the software. Rather than await instructions from the software, the graphics chip is programmed to perform the tasks, Ledbetter said.

Two competitors, S3 Inc. of Santa Clara and Chips & Technologies Inc. of San Jose, have also introduced chips that accelerate the performance of Windows.

Western Digital has also introduced a second graphics chip that it said can boost the battery life of a 5- to 8-pound notebook computer from a peak of about three hours to five.