Intel tools up programmers to speed 64-bit ports

By Alun Williams

Posted on 5 Oct 2004 at 13:12

Intel is helping to bring 64-bit software to the Xeon and Pentium 4 platforms with the release of new compilers and development tools.

The company's oft-repeated mantra - in the face of AMD's introduction of its AMD64 platform with server and desktop chips - was that 64-bit processors for the desktop would appear when there was demand for applications requiring such support. What this means, in practice, is 64-bit Windows.

Even with the introduction of this latest suite of software tools, Intel is holding this line - there is support for Intel's Extended Memory 64 technology (EM64T), such as appears in Xeon and Intel Pentium 4 processor-based servers and workstations, as opposed to desktop support. The company insists it plans to introduce this technology in its desktop processor line when 'commensurate operating system support is available'.

The releases include the Intel compilers, the Intel Math Kernel and Integrated Performance Primitives, supporting Windows and Linux. Helping developers to optimise code for its own 64-bit processors, the software accommodates the wider range of addressable memory that is possible with 64-bit computing.

The Intel C++ Compilers 8.1 is priced at $399, the Intel Visual Fortran Compiler 8.1 for Windows (Professional Edition) at $1,399, the Intel Visual Fortran Compiler 8.1 for Windows (Standard Edition) at $499 and finally, Intel Visual Fortran Compiler 8.1 for
Linux is priced at $699.

The Intel VTune Performance Analyzers, with support for Intel EM64T, should be available later this year for $699.

'Developers understand that turning 32-bit code into 64-bit code is not easy, regardless of whether an Intel platform or a competitive component is being used,' said Jonathan Khazam, general manager of Intel's Software Products Division. 'Intel offers software developers the expertise and tools for Intel EM64T to make the job easier and application performance remarkably better.'

You can find more information on the latest compilers at www.intel.com/software/products.