Intel 64-bit Desktops In 05...

[D3v1an7]

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker disclosed at its analyst meeting in New York that it will include 64-bit functionality on its desktop chips starting in 2005, a schedule that roughly coincides with the release of a 64-bit version of Windows for desktops coming next year.

Roughly my ass...
All I have to say is F Intel and Microsoft

This is exactly what I have been saying since AMD released the A-64. MS isn't going to release XP-64 until Intel has it's 64-bit desktop chip ready to go to market.

I feel bad for AMD. They were first to market with a 64-bit chip, they were the trailblazers/risk takers but MS holds back the true power of the chip by not releasing XP 64 until Intel can catch up to AMD.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it's how I see it.

 

[Frosty_axe]

Roughly my ass...
All I have to say is F Intel and Microsoft

This is exactly what I have been saying since AMD released the A-64. MS isn't going to release XP-64 until Intel has it's 64-bit desktop chip ready to go to market.

I feel bad for AMD. They were first to market with a 64-bit chip, they were the trailblazers/risk takers but MS holds back the true power of the chip by not releasing XP 64 until Intel can catch up to AMD.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it's how I see it.

Well, why would it be economically benifichial for M$ to go ahead and ship a final release of their xp-64. That would be one more os for them to test and debug. In the long run it would cost them more money to develop 2 os's then it woudl to just wait a few months and have a single release.

 

[D3v1an7]

AMD and INTEL have shared technology agreements.

As long as INTEL knows how to follow instructions and build a compliant chip, it would be compatable with XP-64.

MS would hold it back XP-64 to make sure that AMD didn't gain any 64-bit computing advantage over intel. This way, both chip makers start the 64-bit software race at the same time.

 

[Frosty_axe]

If thats the case why did ms release the bata? I mean, thre arent any intel users playing wiht it because the stuff is not out yet, its all amd.

 

[xonik]

MS isn't going to release XP-64 until Intel has it's 64-bit desktop chip ready to go to market.

That's where the money is, don't you agree?

They were first to market with a 64-bit chip,

No, they were like the third or fourth company to release a 64-bit CPU. Of course, they were the first to release one that can natively run x86 code, though.

they were the trailblazers/risk takers

An x86 64-bit implementation wasn't difficult from the technical side of things. There was no technological hurdles, I assure you. Even the market risk was not great, because AMD was smart and ensured that the 32-bit performance could carry the K8 line even if x86-64 didn't take off.

but MS holds back the true power of the chip by not releasing XP 64 until Intel can catch up to AMD.

That may or may not be true. Microsoft writes drivers for thousands and thousands of devices and includes them with its OS. Recoding these drivers takes time, even for a company of Microsoft's size. Don't forget that the real prize, Longhorn, has been in development throughout this project.

But yes, from a marketing standpoint, it makes sense to conveniently release the x86-64 OS when Intel has some hardware to take advantage of the 64-bit extensions.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it's how I see it.

Look at it this way. Microsoft forced Intel to compromise and use AMD's version of the x86-64 extended instruction set. With Intel's muscle in the business, it could have made AMD's implementation unpopular and incompatible, and that really would have sucked. But alas, it was Intel who had to compromise, not Microsoft or AMD. Maybe that will make you feel better, but for me, it's a lot easier to avoid taking sides in the CPU business.

 

[D3v1an7]

It's not about taking sides, it's about the business practices of the two companies in question. I'm upset for the owners A-64 chips. For months XP-64 has been almost ready and being pushed back a little at a time. Now it comes out that it will be ready just in time for the Intel 64.

Money is money. Tell me how making money now is different than making money later. There are plenty of pre-built systems that come with an A64 in them. The only thing that is holding back the wide spread adoption of that chip is the release of XP-64.


It may take a long time to re-write all those drivers but don't you think that while AMD was developing their chip they were working closely with MS the whole time? And during that time period that MS was already busy re-writing the code to work on a 64-bit processor?

I'm no software expert but I'll bet that changing software to be 64-bit compliant isn't as time consuming as re-writing it for a different platform. Hell, it's probably as difficult as simply using a 64-bit compiler to re-compile the software.

 

[Buckus]

I'm no software expert but I'll bet that changing software to be 64-bit compliant isn't as time consuming as re-writing it for a different platform. Hell, it's probably as difficult as simply using a 64-bit compiler to re-compile the software.

Mostly that is correct, but that 64-bit compiler has to be written first, and more often than not, the first release of anything is not going to be as efficient as release n+1.

Basically, as the X86-64 become a more mature platform, there will be better compilers that take advantage of the 64-bit instructions better than the first compilers, which will no doubt mainly take advantage of larger registers, which will hardly increase performance at all. Expect to see 64-bit performance to be hardly better than 32-bit performance, at least for a couple of years.

 

[xonik]

It's not about taking sides, it's about the business practices of the two companies in question. I'm upset for the owners A-64 chips. For months XP-64 has been almost ready and being pushed back a little at a time. Now it comes out that it will be ready just in time for the Intel 64.

Playing the devil's advocate, SSE3 has seen limited implementation, and by the time the Athlon 64s get it, we will have lots of applications with the optimizations.

 

[ichbingottderliebe]

i cant go through all this thread right now... so lemme say

microsoft is beta testing xp 64 currently but its not on their high agenda cause they had sp 2 a to work on last year ..(shifted alot of their resources to work on sp2 at that time) and now they are more concered for longhorn ...