Due to silicon dioxide being unable to meet future gate dielectric thickness and leakage requirements, silicon dioxide as a gate dielectric is being replaced with a higher k material, such as a metal silicate. Switching from silicon dioxide to a higher k dielectric involves more than just changing the dielectric. Although the goal is to minimize changes to a traditional CMOS flow, this paper will discuss the reality of the types of changes that must be made for the transistor to achieve improved performance and meet the SIA Roadmap requirements. Temperature changes are the most common type of change considered. However, there are more subtle process and flow changes which can be quite insidious and their impact must be understood. Contamination concerns may also drive process changes, but are more likely to cause procedural or manufacturing system changes. Such changes may be considered more expensive by a production fab than a process or equipment change.