During presentations at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco on September 13, Intel officials confirmed that the upcoming “Clover Trail” version of the company’s low-power Atom processor would not support Linux.

The Clover Field processor is targeted at mobile devices, such as low-cost notebooks and tablets. The Inquirer reports that an Intel representative at IDF declared that Clover Trail “cannot run Linux” and is exclusively “a Windows 8 chip.”

On September 11, Intel Architecture Group Executive Vice President David Perlmutter told IDF attendees in his keynote that the Clover Trail system-on-a-chip architecture was designed specifically for Windows 8 tablets and “convertibles.” In effect, Clover Trail is Intel’s effort to provide a full Windows 8 experience (including enterprise features missing from Windows RT) on devices competitive with ARM-based Windows 8 tablets.

To achieve that, Intel worked closely with Microsoft to instrument the chip to allow Windows 8 to control Clover Trail's advanced power management features, which support what Perlmutter called "always-on" functionality. It's that special sauce in Clover Trail that won't be supported for other operating systems, including Linux, likely in part because of Intel’s desire to keep those features close to the vest—and because of contractual obligations to Microsoft.

Ironically, some of the other news about Atom at IDF was all about Linux and its derivatives. Intel announced at IDF that the company’s developers had completed a port of Android 4.1 (known as “Jelly Bean”) to the Atom Medfield processor. PC Advisor’s Agam Shah reported that Intel Vice President and General Manager Mike Bell told IDF attendees in his keynote that he and a number of other Intel employees were already using Medfield-based smartphones running Jelly Bean. Cell phones based on the Medfield chip will become available next year, pending carrier acceptance.