4 replies to this topic

[Nvyseal]

images/news/microsoft.jpgBelieve it or not, Windows 7's successor(s) have been in the planning and early development stages for a while now. We haven't posted anything about any of them yet, but we've been watching closely to see if anything really interesting turned up. Exactly two weeks ago, it did. A LinkedIn profile, which has already been taken down, for a Robert Morgan, Senior Research & Development at Microsoft, has shone a sliver of light on the possibility of 128-bit support coming to Windows 8. Morgan has been with the software giant since January 2002, but we're more intrigued with what his profile (first paragraph) and his status (second paragraph) recently stated:

Quote

Working in high security department for research and development involving strategic planning for medium and longterm projects. Research & Development projects including 128bit architecture compatibility with the Windows 8 kernel and Windows 9 project plan. Forming relationships with major partners: Intel, AMD, HP, and IBM.

Robert Morgan is working to get IA-128 working backwards with full binary compatibility on the existing IA-64 instructions in the hardware simulation to work for Windows 8 and definitely Windows 9.

Windows 8 News found Morgan's profile first and immediately started trying to get in contact with him over LinkedIn. When we saw this, we leaned back and waited to see if they could get a response from him. They did. The site claims it has managed to get an exclusive interview with Morgan and is letting its readers to ask questions. The deadline is October 11, 2009 so head on over and post your queries.

This news is interesting because we always thought Windows 7 would be the last release that had 32-bit and 64-bit versions. This was brought on by the fact that Windows Server 2008 R2, the server version of Windows 7, was the first Windows Server release to be 64-bit only. The next client version of Windows should therefore follow suit, but apparently Microsoft is going to prepare it for 128-bit as well. We're not saying Windows 8 will definitely come in 64-bit and 128-bit flavors, but Microsoft is moving down that path, and at the very least, Windows 9 will.

Read on @ Arstechnica

[brewin]

We haven't even begun to approach the limit of 64-bit address space. That's a limit of 16 exabytes (16 billion gigabytes) of memory.

I think this is either fake or a misunderstanding. Who knows, maybe not. Maybe Microsoft is planning for every computer to be able to load a copy of the universe in RAM.

[stormrosson]

gee Brew don't u want to that????? I do

[eniparadoxgma]

I'd be interested in the timeline. It has taken how long to get 64-bit computing to...where it is today? What percentage of computer users even bother to run a 64-bit OS?

I know that my Program Files (x86) folder usually tends to be about...20 times bigger than my Program Files folder...

[m.oreilly]

i'm with brew. hehe, a marketing ploy for new cpu/gpu that will offer yet again a totally awesome shock and awe satisfaction for purchasers of said gear, running 32bit apps...have you noticed these kids spending 3 grand on boxes still run 32bit winders, and xp at that, and will never let go of their precious swap...