A long-awaited, 64-bit version of Windows will be available at last come April, Microsoft told the Intel Developer Forum this week.
Windows chief Jim Allchin told the conference the desktop Windows XP version would arrive at the beginning of the month and the Windows Server 2003 version would arrive at the end of the month.
These versions will be called Windows x64 and support the new Intel Pentium processors that hit 64-bit portions of data rather than the standard 32-bit portions.
Intel revealed details of those new chips at the IDF, chips the company says will put two or more computing engines onto a single chip. Intel plans to use it across its processor lines, from those driving mobile computes to those acting as the brains of high-end servers, with Intel adding they have fifteen projects involving dual- or multi-core chips.
Allchin encouraged developers to start guiding their applications toward taking full advantage of such extra processing power. “We’re locked onto 64-bit,” he told the IDF gathering.
Microsoft released a beta version of a 64-bit Windows XP in late 2003, a version based on the Athlon 64 processor by Advanced Micro Devices and able to run on computers with both the Athlon 64 and Opteron chips.
