As a 64-bit enabled user, I’m so glad finally home-use Windows OS has entered 64-bit computing !!

At WinHEC 2005, Microsoft announced it is finally ready to bring 64-bit computing to the mainstream and is shipping x64 editions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The 64-bit versions of Windows were released to manufacturing in late March and will now be available from PC vendors.

However these 2 64-bit OS will not be sold on retail shelves, it will be only as an option for manufacturers selling PCs like Dell and HP, with 64-bit processors from AMD and soon Intel.

64-bit OS will still run 32-bit application like what we all are using today. So, no worries about incompatibility. Microsoft expects 64-bit computers to make up a significant number of PCs that ship next year.

However, the current application market still lack of 64-bit applications, even Microsoft’s own 64-bit capable programming environment, Visual Studio 2005, is still in beta at the moment. Once all the programming compilers turn into 64-bit, I’m sure programming compiling will not take as long time as we are suffering now.

[Source]

Here is a Review Of Windows XP Professional x64 edition by cNet.

Anyway, go 64, go !!