Windows XP 64-bit Edition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Website: | Windows XP |
| Company/ developer: |
Microsoft |
| OS family: | Windows NT |
| Source model: | Closed source |
| Latest stable release: | 2003 / March 28, 2003 |
| Update method: | Windows Update |
| Kernel type: | Hybrid kernel |
| Default user interface: | Graphical user interface |
| License: | Microsoft EULA |
| Working state: | Unsupported |
Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition was a version of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system designed to run on Intel Itanium family of microprocessors in their native IA-64 mode. It should not be confused with Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, which is designed for x86-64 processors.
Two major versions of Windows 64-bit Edition were released:
- Windows XP 64-bit Edition for Itanium systems, Version 2002 — Based on Windows XP codebase, which was released in 2001
- Windows XP 64-bit Edition, Version 2003 — Based on Windows Server 2003 codebase, which added support for the Itanium 2 processor, was released on March 28, 2003. [1]
Windows XP 64-bit didn't fall into one of Microsoft's then current Windows XP product lines ('Home', 'Professional', 'Media Center' or 'Tablet') but was a separate edition made solely for the Itanium processor and its 64-bit instructions. However it was mostly analogous to Windows XP Professional Edition, but with some limitations:
- Initially it lacked most media applications such as Windows Media Player, NetMeeting, Windows Movie Maker, and integrated CD burning, although WMP and NetMeeting were added in the 2003 version.
- Numerous old technologies such as DAO, Jet database and most notably NTVDM were removed, so support for MS-DOS, POSIX, OS/2, and Win16 applications is absent.
However, unlike previous alternate architecture ports of Windows (Windows NT 4.0 for PowerPC, MIPS R4x00, and Alpha) Windows XP 64-bit Edition could run standard x86 32-bit applications through its WOW64 (Windows on Windows) emulation layer. While the original Itanium processor contained an on-chip IA-32 decoder, it was deemed far too slow for serious use (Running at about 400MHz), so Microsoft and Intel wrote a software 32 to 64 bit translator dubbed the IA-32 Execution Layer. It allowed real time translation of x86 32-bit instructions into IA-64 instructions, allowing legacy 32-bit applications to run (albeit significantly more slowly than native code).
[edit] Criticism
Windows XP 64-bit Edition could not use 32-bit drivers and services (except for codecs such as XviD, which were actually 32-bit DLLs so they could be used if media players are 32-bit). Thus, many (older) devices are incompatible with this version of Windows.
Security updates were discontinued for Windows XP 64-bit Edition because of the more recent release Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. Many fans of old DOS games have been reluctant to install 64-bit edition since the 64-bit edition lacks support for DOS applications.
[edit] External links
- Microsoft - 'Microsoft Windows XP 64-Bit Edition'
- WinSuperSite - 'Introducing Windows 64-bit Editions'
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