Thursday, August 28, 2008 Ng: Toward 64-bit By Wilson Ng Wired Desktop
ACCORDING to some reports, the 64-bit computing is finally taking off.
We have been on 32-bit computing for the longest time. We transitioned mostly to 32-bit from 16-bit computing mostly during the Windows 95 era. That was more than 12 years ago.
A lot of promises have been made about 64 bit. More than 10 years ago, DEC Alpha Systems have been touting the development toward 64 bit. Intel’s Itanium 64 bit processors have also been in the market for almost 10 years, but somehow, it never quite took off.
There were two main reasons that Itanium did not fly. One is that there was software incompatibility – software has to be rewritten or recompiled for it to run. The other is that the primary advantage of 64-bit is the ability to use more than four gigabytes of RAM, something most PC and server users cannot afford, yet.
Microsoft released a 64-bit version of Windows XP during the fall of 2005 and, finally, it does seem to be getting takers.
The new EMT64 architecture adopted by AMD and Intel (sometimes called x64) appear to solve one of the problems. With its new extended memory architecture, unlike the Itanium, there was no need for the EMT64 to recompile software to make it run on 64-bit systems. Moreover, memory has become cheap and one can now afford to buy four gigabytes. Most, if not all new, processors now-adays—especially the Intel core 2 series—are now capable of running 64-bit software.
According to Microsoft, 20 percent of new Windows Vista in the United States connected to Windows update as of June 2008 are now running 64-bit Windows, compared to only three percent in March. Many of the new notebook and desktop models in many US stores are finally coming with 64-bit Windows.
The advantages of using 64-bit Windows is that it can run a 64-bit specially compiled software faster. It will run most 32-bit software well (except the device drivers and those that run on kernel mode – like anti-virus software etc). Device drivers need to be rewritten, and you do need 64-bit device drivers although this is becoming more and more available.
There is another advantage – most viruses run on kernel mode, so they are designed to attack 32-bit systems but will not run on the 64 bit windows.
The biggest advantage is that 64 bit allows you more memory. Theoretically, it will allow you 18 exabytes (18 billion gigabytes) of memory. But at present, there are some limitations on Windows Vista.
Home premium can run up to 16 gigabytes, while Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate can do up to 128 gigabytes of memory.
The first 64-bit will probably find their way to high-end gaming and graphics workstations; but I’m sure it will not be long before it is here in the Philippines, to experience increasing use, quantities and applications.
