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Founder
Joined: 09 Mar 2002
Posts: 43444
Location: Columbia, SC
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 Today's the day... the day Microsoft plans to make its biggest push yet to popularize 64-bit computing on everyday computers. And it almost goes without saying; quite a few of us are very interesting in what has to be said up in Redmond. Read our WinHEC 2005 Headlines here and more below:
WinHEC 2005 Headlines:
Longhorn Build 5048!!
5048 Desktop Screenshot
 WinHEC 2005 Photos
More Blurb:
At a conference today, Chairman Bill Gates is expected to announce the general availability of the first desktop version of Windows to support 64-bit processing chips, which can access bigger chunks of memory and move data around faster than 32-bit chips in wide use on PCs since the 1980s. Some 3,200 hardware developers, software developers, and website enthusiasts (including our own Larry Richman) are expected to appear at the Microsoft-sponsored Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHec) this week to hear where Microsoft is driving the tech industry, and learn what they can do. The conference theme: "Jump on the 64-bit bandwagon."
To inspire developers on other fronts, Gates is to unveil:
• A postcard-sized PC — a concept device with a 6-inch screen that could theoretically operate as a full-blown computer.
• A prototype laptop with a small screen on the lid, so data can be accessed with the lid closed.
Now on the flip side. As I've stated in other blogs (this one in particular)... I question Microsoft's ability to continue to push new OS's over and over again. Proof of this is in the fact that software makers so far haven't been willing to take on the costly task of converting popular applications to 64-bit until there is demand. Demand being the key word. So long as our computers work the way we want them too, and we can accomplish what we need, who exactly is going to keep upgrading beyond the very tech savvy (top of the line only) people and the big enthusiasts (like many of us)? The average computer user, likely a good 80% of the market, isn't going to need Longhorn, or 64-bit computing for that matter. Over time, sure, they'll upgrade... but the days of customers flocking to the stores to buy the latest product is nearly over. Microsoft needs to remember that last time we were all escaping Windows 98 and Windows Me. Building a solid program in XP might have been a shot to the foot... from a future sales perspective anyway.
But it won't stop Microsoft from trying. Gates is to announce that the first 64-bit Windows desktop operating system, Windows XP Pro, is available. It is expected to be on home versions by 2007, when the next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, is ready. Microsoft will talk of engineers and animators doing richer work in real time on 64-bit workstations. It foresees consumers playing fancier video games and editing video, photo and music files like pros. Some folks up at Microsoft even predict that 64-bit desktop PCs won't cost more than a 32-bit machine. We'll see...
But, like I said before, Microsoft's efforts alone aren't going to change the market, or spur consumers into a buying frenzy over the 64-bit/Longhorn technology. Email and web surfing still work the same under any system, so the real push will have to come by the Dell's and HP's who will have to come through with their aggressive price campaigns for "better" desktop PC's. I'm just not sure it'll work, at least not yet.
Still... I gotta admit. It's exciting to watch it unfold.
 
John C. Derrick
Chairman of the Board
Sources: USA Today, Google News, Microsoft
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