What's New: Windows 64-bit Editions Released

In April, Microsoft announced Windows XP x64 Edition (XP64) and its counterpart for Windows Server 2003. Designed for AMD Athlon64 CPUs and Intel CPUs with Athlon64-compatible Extended Memory 64 Technology (EM64T), these 64-bit software upgrades promise a speed boost for CPU-intensive applications and memory-hungry server programs. However even though Microsoft is giving away Windows XP x64 as a free upgrade for computers with Windows XP Professional, most users should hold off upgrading for a while.

For one thing, XP64 will not run any 32-bit device drivers or low-level utilities such as antivirus and third-party firewall programs. It will not run older 16-bit Windows or DOS programs. Also the "upgrade" will only install on a blank hard drive. Microsoft itself admits that only users that are "pushing the boundaries" of 32-bit Windows versions will benefit from upgrading.

See our full article for more.

Friday, Jun 3, 2005 06:12 pm CDT

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