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    Microsoft Has Eyes for 64-Bit-Only

    By
    Peter Galli
    -
    November 21, 2005
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      Microsoft Corp. will continue aggressively pushing customers toward the 64-bit computing platform by making a number of upcoming products only in 64-bit versions.

      The next version of Exchange, known as Microsoft Exchange Server 12—as well as the upcoming “Longhorn” release of Windows Small Business Server and Centro, the code name for Microsofts infrastructure solution under development for midsize businesses—will be released only as 64-bit and optimized for x64 hardware.

      Also, while the first release of the upcoming Windows Server family of products will be both 32-bit and 64-bit, future updates will bring about the complete transition to 64-bit-only hardware while still benefiting from 32-bit and 64-bit application compatibility, company officials said.

      John Engates, chief technology officer at Rackspace Managed Hosting, in San Antonio, supports Microsofts decision to start making some of its products 64-bit-only. “I believe that there is always a tough decision to be made in terms of moving forward with new technology while maintaining backward compatibility. In our world of managed hosting, customers are always pushing us to get them more horsepower. We already need 64-bit; well offer 64-bit as soon as possible,” Engates said.

      /zimages/6/28571.gifNovell defends SUSE against MS-sponsored study. Click here to read more.

      The cost of moving to 64-bit was not a huge burden for Rackspace since the benefits gained in performance are worth the costs, he said, adding that many of the servers in his companys production environment are already enabled to take advantage of 64-bit. By the time many of the products on Microsofts road map are released, the vast majority of Rackspaces customers will be on hardware that is ready for 64-bit, he said.

      “The increase in the amount of usable memory will play the biggest role in removing bottlenecks from our customers applications,” Engates said.

      Asked about the hardware requirements for customers making the move to 64-bit computing, Microsoft officials said most new hardware available today is already x64-capable and that customers with legacy hardware will be able to run a mixed mode of 32-bit and 64-bit.

      “But they will not be able to run Exchange 12 on 32-bit gear. This is an important leap, particularly in the case of Exchange, where the mail store requires massive scalability and the limits on memory have customers bumping into that,” Engates said.

      /zimages/6/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for Microsoft and Windows news, views and analysis.

      Peter Galli
      Peter Galli has been a financial/technology reporter for 12 years at leading publications in South Africa, the UK and the US. He has been Investment Editor of South Africa's Business Day Newspaper, the sister publication of the Financial Times of London.He was also Group Financial Communications Manager for First National Bank, the second largest banking group in South Africa before moving on to become Executive News Editor of Business Report, the largest daily financial newspaper in South Africa, owned by the global Independent Newspapers group.He was responsible for a national reporting team of 20 based in four bureaus. He also edited and contributed to its weekly technology page, and launched a financial and technology radio service supplying daily news bulletins to the national broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which were then distributed to some 50 radio stations across the country.He was then transferred to San Francisco as Business Report's U.S. Correspondent to cover Silicon Valley, trade and finance between the US, Europe and emerging markets like South Africa. After serving that role for more than two years, he joined eWeek as a Senior Editor, covering software platforms in August 2000.He has comprehensively covered Microsoft and its Windows and .Net platforms, as well as the many legal challenges it has faced. He has also focused on Sun Microsystems and its Solaris operating environment, Java and Unix offerings. He covers developments in the open source community, particularly around the Linux kernel and the effects it will have on the enterprise.He has written extensively about new products for the Linux and Unix platforms, the development of open standards and critically looked at the potential Linux has to offer an alternative operating system and platform to Windows, .Net and Unix-based solutions like Solaris.His interviews with senior industry executives include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Linus Torvalds, the original developer of the Linux operating system, Sun CEO Scot McNealy, and Bill Zeitler, a senior vice president at IBM.For numerous examples of his writing you can search under his name at the eWEEK Website at www.eweek.com.
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