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Anticipation of 64-bit computing, propelled by Intel's release of the Itanium microprocessor, has turned up a notch with Microsoft releasing details about its high-end Windows XP operating system designed to run on the powerful chip platform.

Versions of Microsoft's 64-bit Windows XP for servers and workstations will be released in line with larger industry adoption. Microsoft is continuing to offer alternatives to Unix-based systems from Sun and IBM.

"I think over time Microsoft certainly intends (the 64-bit system) to be a direct competitor, but it's fair to regard it today essentially as a testing ground," says Chris Le Tocq, principal analyst with Guernsey Research. "Really this is for developers to have some platform to get on board with."

The Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition is scheduled to ship upon general availability from manufacturers of Itanium-based servers, which could be released by August.

Intel could release Itanium as soon as next week, the company says. The long-awaited 64-bit chip is the first of its kind from Intel and will be followed up sometime in 2002 with a more optimized chip named McKinley.

Dell, Others Prepare Itanium Systems

Dell announced Tuesday details of the release of its first Itanium server, called the PowerEdge 7150. The high-powered server is expected to be the first Itanium server to market and should be available in August. It is expected to ship initially with either Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system or Red Hat's distribution of Linux, according to Dell.

In the next few weeks, analysts expect similar announcements from Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and other manufacturers developing products for Intel's Itanium. But Intel's first foray into the 64-bit realm won't cause too much of a stir, Le Tocq says.

"Based on the hardware that is coming out this year, we don't expect that to be significant volume," he says.

Microsoft Readies Other Apps

The workstation version of Microsoft's OS, the Windows XP 64-bit Edition, is scheduled for release October 25, simultaneously with Windows XP for the 32-bit platform, the company says. Testers and select customers will get an early look at Windows for Itanium before its final release.

It will compete against the large 64-bit Unix systems such as Sun's Solaris and HP's HP-UX. Analysts say the company still has time to enter the market mainly because there is not yet any hardware on which to run its 64-bit offering.

When the Windows platform is deployed for 64-bit computing, Microsoft is expected to begin rolling out some of its more than 300 64-bit applications currently under development. No release dates are scheduled yet, Microsoft representatives say, but the initial application launch will likely be with SQL Server. That release will be closely watched as the database software is one of Microsoft's most memory-hungry applications, and will run better on a 64-bit platform.

A beta version of SQL Server for the 64-bit platform is due out in the beginning of the third quarter with a final release after the launch of Windows 2002 server software, a Microsoft spokesperson says.

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