64 bit windows??????

[Slartibartfast]

anyone who anything (factual) about a 64 bit version of windows on the horizon?????

[clockworkmep]

Re: 64 bit windows??????

I've only heard rumors. However i think it's safe to say that Longhorn won't be 64 bit. Maybe a server edition will come out that will be 64 bit?

[Yawgm0th]

Re: 64 bit windows??????

Actually, there will be a 64-bit version of Longhorn. It won't be exclusively 64-bit, but by the time it comes out all mainstream and high-end PCs will be using 64-bit processors. You might still see entry-level systems based on socket 478 P4s and socket 754 Sempron-based systems, but we're talking about 2006 or later here. In any case, there's already a 64-bit Alpha (or preliminary release, as MS calls it) of it, and it's being developed right alongside the 32-bit version and the Itanium version AFAIK.

In any case, we're talking about 64-bit Windows XP, which will hopefully come out early 2005 with working drivers from the major hardware manufacturers, particularly the video card manufacturers. I can tell you that there have been plenty of tests done and that the more recent builds are pretty stable and perform pretty well. There's actually hugh gain in some areas. It's been in open beta for a while now, and you can download or order a CD of a free 360-day trail here. It runs most applications and even games, though a few have been known to not work. The main problem for most people is that (last time I checked) it simply has piss-poor performance in most games, which is the fault of nVidia and ATI for not getting even decent 64-bit drivers. That may have changed, but the only real issue other than that would be the fact that it's still in development and simply won't have the stability or reliablity of the 32-bit version. But, it's not much faster in most applications anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it unless you have something specific in mind that gains a huge advantage from running in 64-bit.

On the other hand, there have been working 64-bit Linux kernels since the first Opterons came out a while ago. Most applications that gain huge advantage from running in 64-bit mode are better run in Linux or would be just as easy to run in Linux.