Stinger 0 Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 This is copied from ArsTechnica.com: 64-bit future downplayed by Intel, Microsoft Posted 3/24/2003 - 11:45AM, by Ken "Caesar" Fisher 32-bit or 64? Sever or consumer? These are the two trajectories that are painting a confusing picture for the prophets of the 64-bit revolution. As we all know now, Intel does not have a 64-bit consumer-level CPU (publicly) in the works for release any time soon. The company apparently isn't convinced that the consumer market even needs 64-bit computing right now, making it the only major chip developer working on PC solutions not (publicly) hopping on the 64-bit bandwagon (both AMD and IBM has 64-bit products in the works). At least for the next few years, anyone wanting 64-bit computing power at home is going to have to go with AMD (running Linux), or possibly Apple, should the PowerPC 970 truly land inside a Mac. In the server world, things are also jumbled. Microsoft's Windows 2003 Server will launch with 64-bit support, but only for Intel's Itanium. The company is ambiguous with regards to an Opteron-supporting release, leaving those eager to try out an alternative Windows-based 64-bit solution without options. A Microsoft executive would only say that a version supporting Opteron's 64-bit capabilities will come sometime after that launch and before the next major release of the OS code-named Black Home [sic]. "We haven't been able to settle on what that [64-bit Operton OS] product will look like, what the schedule will be or how we will announce it yet," said Bob O'Brien, group product manager for Microsoft's Windows Server division. Somewhat disappointing, it's also a tad surprising considering that Microsoft has had plenty of time to prepare for the oft-delayed Opteron. However, as we covered extensively in our Introduction to 64-bit Computing and x86-64, Opteron is designed to run 32-bit code well, providing a safety-net should 64-bit x86 adoption proceed slowly. But clearly AMD needs 64-bit x86 adoption to happen sooner rather than later. We can expect to see AMD touting the Opteron as a Linux-friendly 64-bit solution until Microsoft delivers on the server side. Depending on how well the Opteron runs Linux, Microsoft could find itself with increased motivation to get product support out the door as quickly as possible. Most people won't want to run Linux for sure to have 64 bit support. And man this really aint lookin good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RooK 0 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 (edited) Odd thing is, you dont see 64-bit WinXP being talked about there. It will be released later this year, optimized for the Operton/Hammer, and will get support. Otherwise, how do you think AMD was running all these 64bit demos? Simple, MS gave them a prerelease version. Although the Operton version is for servers, since most people running servers will be using Linux, I see this as a non-issue. As for the Hammer; it can run 64bit WinXP/Linux or any 32bit OS, that's what makes Hammer core such a good design. Edited March 25, 2003 by RooK Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stinger 0 Posted March 25, 2003 Author Share Posted March 25, 2003 (edited) I heard that MS has decided not to go ahead and make that 64 Bit XP public. Im looking for linkage but thats at least what I heard. I just grabbed this now though, * Important: The 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition and Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition are only compatible with 64-bit Intel Itanium-based systems. They cannot be successfully installed on 32-bit systems. I've Edit but havent installed it on anything yet. But notice the bold part. Intel has pretty much made it obvious that that is as far into 64bit computing as they will go for now. And most home users of course use Windows. And if MS does decide not to release that XP 64bit crap then AMD is screwed quite a bit. And at the earlies MS is still far off from getting even a beta of WinXP in a 64bit ready mode. Edit Edited March 25, 2003 by Stinger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RooK 0 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 I heard that MS has decided not to go ahead and make that 64 Bit XP public. ... And at the earlies MS is still far off from getting even a beta of WinXP in a 64bit ready mode. We'll see come September Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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