AMD has decided to take the fight to The Big I. I don’t think there’s anyone in their right mind who would disagree that Intel has used predatory tactics to enforce its market position. No, the question here is whether AMD will get any further than the U.S. government did against Microsoft. At least this time, AMD is getting help from Japan.

Advanced Micro Devices fired off a federal antitrust lawsuit against Intel on Tuesday, claiming that its rival has a monopolistic grip on the PC industry.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Delaware, details alleged scare tactics and coercion that AMD claims Intel imposed on 38 different large-scale computer makers, small system builders, wholesale distributors and retailers.

Intel processors account for more than 80 percent of the computers running x86-based chips, according to IDC. Those chips run the Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Linux families of operating systems. Even Apple Computer has announced that it would switch exclusively to x86 processors to run Mac OS software beginning in 2006.

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