I found that we need not wait for the industry to adopt the FlexATX form factor (although that would be nice), or anything else "new": There is already a number of microATX (µATX) motherboards available which are shorter (less deep) than the standard allows as a maximum. Most of them are still 9.6 inches (244mm) wide, but they are only between 7.2 and 8.3 inches deep (180-210mm). (For non-US readers: 210mm is the width of A4 paper.)
This is somewhat larger than FlexATX (9"x7.5"), but a motherboard depth of 8.25 inches or less allows for a nice case around 9 inches deep. With good, current board availability, and with many of the boards being rather affordable, this seems to be the best bet for building a small desktop PC. (Short of going the Mini-ITX route.)
I window-shopped at a couple of online retailers and put together a page with links and some details for Short µATX Motherboards.
2008-01-26
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