Windows Gets a 64-Bit Overhaul

Microsoft has set this month for the long-awaited launch of its 64-bit version of Windows. Officially dubbed Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, the software has been available as a free, downloadable beta release that supports AMD's 64-bit Opteron and Athlon 64 processors as well as competing 64-bit versions of Intel's Pentium 4 and Xeon CPUs.

Though the 64-bit release from Redmond won't cause anything like the stir that a completely new Longhorn OS will when it ships in 2006, the new XP, nevertheless, could be a big opportunity for VARs and systems builders alike.

"We think this will be a good channel product for us," explains Kurt Kolb, general manager of Microsoft's worldwide system-builder channel. "Here's the opportunity that Windows 64 bit represents: There are a large number of 64-bit processors that are currently shipping in the system-builder channel, compared to the retail world and [to] the larger OEMs."

Kolb vows that Microsoft will apply its extensive resources to provide its partners with training, along with collateral marketing materials.

Sponsored post

Uptake of the OS will be aided by the increasingly wide range of processors available to exploit the capabilities of the 64-bit operating system. On the desktop side, AMD introduced its Athlon 64 processor well ahead of the Microsoft OS, in September 2003. As for Intel, this February, the semiconductor giant lifted the lid on its new 600 Series of 64-bit Pentium processors. The CPUs feature an 800-MHz front-side bus, 2 MB of on-die Level-2 cache and Intel's 64-bit, instruction-set extensions, which it calls EM64T.

Don Young, president of Terian Solutions, a Houston-based systems builder and integrator, thinks the availability of such a range of processors will drive adoption of the OS. "Microsoft's announcement that its 64-bit OS will be available in April will help spur the Athlon 64 push; it reinforces AMD's story," Young says. "Intel also has [64-bit] processors, and they're now delivering the product."

In the server space, AMD led the charge with its Opteron CPU, introduced in April 2003. Intel didn't respond directly until it unveiled a 64-bit version of its Xeon processor brand last summer. On the software side, servers have thus far had to rely on Linux for 64-bit features; the new Microsoft offering could spark an OS battle, but could also prompt fence-sitting customers to dive into the market.

On the portables front, AMD last month unveiled a new mobile processor dubbed the Turion 64. AMD currently makes a 64-bit notebook CPU in the form of its mobile Athlon 64. That family will continue, but the Turion will become the prime chip for low-power applications.

The 64-bit edition of Windows will be priced the same as Microsoft's existing version of Windows XP Professional, Kolb says. That sells for roughly $170 as an upgrade and $300 for a new license, though the street price for the OEM version is said to be closer to $100.

Close