The 100 best products of year.

You know how many new-product pitches we get every year? Thousands, each declaring that the item is the best in its category. Though many of the companies making these claims are clearly delusional, some creations do stand as superbly designed top performers in their field--and you'll find all of them right here in our roster of the 100 best products of the year.

We rated each candidate on its design, performance and specifications. We generally did not consider price in our evaluations; instead, we looked for products that represent the cream of the crop. But in compiling our list, some products were such great bargains that we couldn't ignore them. Of course, ranking notebooks and Linux distributions in one place is tricky, but we assessed them as consistently as we could.

We've also identified a few of the year's most noteworthy companies, including our pick for the loser of the year.

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR

1 INTEL CORE DUO notebook/desktop CPU ($350 and up) Intel's Core Duo provides multitasking power never before possible on a portable PC, and yet it supports astounding battery life for mobile devices. The Core Duo processor is so good that it's the CPU of choice not only for Windows notebooks but also for Apple's Windows-capable notebook and for desktop Macs.

In today's mobile world, Core Duo gives Intel a leg up. AMD's Athlon 64 X2 dual-core (#2) is astoundingly good, but AMD hasn't yet captured that power in a mobile version; and its notebook processors aren't nearly as potent or as battery-efficient as Intel's. www.intel.com.au

2 AMD ATHLON 64 X2 dual-core desktop CPU ($280 and up) The most powerful desktop CPU ever made had a dual-core design first. If you need full power for increasingly demanding applications and you're tied to a desk, X2 is for you. www.amd.com