AMD 64bit, WindowsXP

[ramollari]

Hey does anyone know if WindowsXP will run on the new AMD 64bit processors? After all, are AMD processors compatible with pentium (i.e. x86 processors)?

[MemorY]

There's a special release of windows xp for 64 bit processors.

You can order the CD here: https://microsoft.order-9.com/winxp64/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=MSTrialandEval&category%5Fname=winxp64&product%5Fid=winxp64&id=cd

i believe it only runs on the AMD processor.

[hitssquad]

Hey does anyone know if WindowsXP will run on the new AMD 64bit processors? After all, are AMD processors compatible with pentium (i.e. x86 processors)?AMD's 64-bit processors are backwards compatible (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD64):

AMD64 represents a break with AMD's past behavior of following Intel's standards, but follows Intel's earlier behavior of extending the x86 architecture, from the 16-bit 8086 to the 32-bit 80386 and beyond, without ever removing backwards compatibility. The AMD64 architecture extends the 32-bit x86 architecture (IA-32) by adding 64-bit registers, with full 32-bit and 16-bit compatibility modes for earlier software.

This is why AMD managed to outmaneuver Intel in the 64-bit arena. Intel's 64 bit offering, the Itanium, is not backwards compatible with 32-bit operating systems.

[ramollari]

This is very interesting indeed! I didn't know that AMD64bit processors are backward compatible.

[graphic7]

AMD's 64-bit processors are backwards compatible (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD64):

AMD64 represents a break with AMD's past behavior of following Intel's standards, but follows Intel's earlier behavior of extending the x86 architecture, from the 16-bit 8086 to the 32-bit 80386 and beyond, without ever removing backwards compatibility. The AMD64 architecture extends the 32-bit x86 architecture (IA-32) by adding 64-bit registers, with full 32-bit and 16-bit compatibility modes for earlier software.

This is why AMD managed to outmaneuver Intel in the 64-bit arena. Intel's 64 bit offering, the Itanium, is not backwards compatible with 32-bit operating systems.

Yes, the Itanium is backwards compatible with 32-bit operating systems. The implementation is messy, but it does exist.

I should rephrase and state that an x86 compatibility layer does exist. This compatibility layer does include support for 32-bit operating systems. The Itanium does have support for most of the instruction sets present on an x86, with the exclusion of SSE2. I'm not sure about the Itanium2.

I also wouldn't say that AMD "outmanuveured" Intel. Each processor has it's distinct advantages and disadvantages.