[sprinkly-dust]

Well, it's not the only option so no one's being forced to buy it. The same thing could've been said about ARM laptops just 5 years ago, before the launch of M1. Now, with Windows embracing ARM for real this time, it's properly established across all major platforms.

The neat thing about this specific implementation is that it can be dropped right into an existing Framework laptop — a very viable hardware platform. Thus, it will allow developers (presumably mainly on Linux) to test and iron out issues in their software, the only way to fix those software problems you speak of.

It represents a strong leap forward for RISC-V and open ISAs in general.