Intel started shipping their first "open-source" personal computer. According to several sources, Intel's open source PC may be described as the best in terms of bare-bones system related to x86 devs. It also aimed to target the growing DIY market and the chip giant is well on its way in exploring what it has to offer.

Santa Clara and CircuitCo Electronics were the company behind the $200 MinnowBoard. The MinnowBoard functions a motherboard. It measures 4 x 4 inches, 10.16 centimetres per side.

According to Agam Shah of IDG, the Minnow can be considered as the fist open-source PC to come to the market. It ran on an Intel x86 processor. Likewise, the design files and schematics of the board can be replicated through the Creative Commons license. Users can publish it in the same way as well.

As expected, the MinnowBoard cost more than the Arduinio or ARM boards. The motherboard ran on an older software like the 1GHz Intel Atom E640 processor of 2010. Nonetheless, it was important to understand that the motherboard cost comparatively cheaper compared to majority of the x86-based PCs out.

The unit will possibly appeal to devs focusing on coding and testing different types of commercial apps before they make it live.

Other important specs of the MinnowBoard included an HDMI port, USB ports, 1GB of DDR2, Gigabit Ethernet as well as a microSD slot to expand storage. Additionally, the open-source UEFI firmware of the board can support custom secure boot environments. As for the operating system, the MinnowBoard features a pre-loaded Angstrom Linux.

This worked in tune with the Yocto Project.

A number of online retailers sell the Intel motherboard at the moment. These include Newark, Farnell, Mouser Electronics and Digi-Key.