WinHEC conference to spotlight 64-bit computing

IDG News Service - SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. today will ring in what it calls the third decade of Windows with the launch of 64-bit versions of the operating system for desktop computers and servers.
Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates is set to announce the availability of Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition at the start of the company's annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in Seattle.
Gates is scheduled to demonstrate PCs and servers running the new operating systems and 64-bit applications. The 64-bit operating systems can process more data per clock cycle and use larger amounts of memory.
However, while Microsoft expects rapid adoption of the server operating system, it doesn't expect the desktop version to be widely adopted. Desktop PC vendors, citing a lack of applications and drivers for the new platform, are expected to be slow in introducing the new Windows XP version.
At WinHEC, Microsoft will repeat its call to hardware makers to develop drivers for the new operating systems. About 16,000 drivers will ship with the operating systems, approximately half the number that ship with 32-bit Windows XP.
"We have lots of drivers today, but we need them all," said Jim Allchin, group vice president in charge of Windows, in a recent interview. "There are peripherals that have been in existence a while that we would like drivers for."
Existing 32-bit applications will work with the new operating systems, but 32-bit drivers won't.
Software vendors including Adobe Systems Inc., McAfee Inc., SAP AG and Oracle Corp. will offer applications built for the x64 versions of Windows. Microsoft itself plans to offer x64 versions of several of its applications this year and next, including SQL Server, Exchange, Commerce Server, Microsoft Operations Manager and Virtual Server.
"We will continue to ship 32-bit Windows XP primarily up until Longhorn," said Greg Sullivan, a lead project manager at Microsoft, referring to the code name of the next edition of Windows. Only gamers, game developers, digital media enthusiasts and other early adopters are likely to make the move to Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, he said.
"It is the guys who are overclocking their CPUs and water cooling their systems," Sullivan said.
Longhorn is expected late next year, by which time Microsoft expects virtually all desktop PCs will be 64-bit based. But the software switch might take longer. The lack of drivers and applications and the need to test applications might hold back 64-bit adoption, so Microsoft will also ship a 32-bit version of Longhorn.