vxworks is also closely related to ARM-alike chips. But it is obvious that intel is thinking about ARM when they made this commitment.

It's rather boiling down to how this purchase will help Intel to penetrate the embedded SoC market rather than aggressively pushing wind river's portfolio.

It makes big sense for Intel to have a vertical business solution. Similarly, orcl bought Sun, which is also holding a portfolio of IPs on solaris and java etc.

But it is really not a so-pretty news for the industry, especially in the unix-like world, imaging how Larry Ellison would behave on negotiation table when someone trying to get ZFS license.

Now, you need to talk to Intl if you want put a embedded OS on a SoC from vendors who are competing with Intl.