Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that it has released a number of 64-bit operating systems to manufacturing, including Windows XP Professional, in time for a scheduled release in late April.
As expected, the company also released Windows Server 2003 Server Pack 1, the basis for the 64-bit updates
Specifically, Microsoft said that Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter x64 Edition, and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition all had been released to manufacturing. Further details will be released at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) later this month.
The 64-bit operating system has been long awaited by both Intel and especially Advanced Micro Devices, whose 64-bit Athlon and Opteron microprocessors have been forced to run on beta versions of the operating system. Linux distribution vendors, on the other hand, have offered 64-bit versions for months.
“Microsoft believes this is the right time to provide this flexible new OS to customers and, with broad industry partnerships, help usher in a new era of computing,” the company said in a statement. “Partners are embracing 64-bit computing in a meaningful way and the availability of x64 will serve as a catalyst in the market to bring benefits to the mainstream. More than 300 partners from every segment of the industry have demonstrated support for Microsoft’s x64 platform on both the desktop and the server.”
Over 8,000 developers have been trained on 64-bit Windows through Microsoft’s Route64 training program, Microsoft said. In the coming weeks Microsoft will start accepting software applications submissions for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition as part of the “Designed for Windows” logo program.
Source: Pcmag
Tried it out via MSDN at a cousin’s place..he has an A64 3500+ on an Asus A8NSLi, runs quite nice. 64bit drivers are available for nearly all the components, excluding his Hauppauge WinTV TV card. Benchies seem a tad higher than on 32bit WinXP as well..
are they gona give windows XP professional users fre upgrade as speculated before?
I would love to have my free copy of windows XP 64 bit. There is no way i am gona go out and buy 1 more legit windows copy…
people are dying to use their Amd64s in real 64 bit mode. I don’t think they will have a problem selling it…at least, all new systems will be bought with 64 bit on board…
just keeping the thread alive.
