Microsoft launches beta of 64-bit Windows XP for Athlon 64

By Steve Malone

Posted on 23 Sep 2003 at 17:21

Microsoft Corp has announced the beta availability of a 64-bit version of Windows XP designed to run natively on the AMD Athlon 64 and Opteron processors.

Redmond says that the beta features Windows on Windows 64 (WOW64) technology, which will enable users to run existing 32-bit applications on the 64-bit operating system.

Windows XP 64-Bit Edition for 64-Bit Extended Systems, to give it its full title, can address a whopping 16Terabytes of memory rather than the paltry 4Gbytes of 32-bit systems. 'Windows XP and AMD64 hold the promise of bringing 64-bit computing to a whole new set of computer users, delivering immersive, cinema-quality user experiences for gaming and working with digital media,' enthused Dirk Meyer, senior VP of the Computation Products Group at AMD.

Windows XP 64-Bit Edition is available now to MSDN subscribers. Microsoft says that it expects XP 64 and the 64-bit Windows Server 2003, which is also now in beta, to go on sale in the first half of 2004.