6.
Gonna try this again:
From your article:
Not so long ago, some 10 years or so, a very important revolution happened: we moved from 16bit applications to 32bit ones. Most of you do remember this process very well, I suppose, as well as the fact that this change didn’t bring any tangible performance improvements. So, when we move from 32bit to 64bit, the situation will be just the same.
Excuse me, no tangible performance improvements? Perhaps since you say you remember that period then you may also remember 60 X 80 screen resolutions in dos and 320 X 240 resolutions in some of the high end apps and games. Pretty blocky stuff to look at. One benefit of moving to 32 bit has been a much better video experience, much better viewing with the low end now being 1024 X 768. Faster processors (32 bit being part of that improved speed) have contributed greatly to that better experience. And that applies whether you are surfing the web, watching a video or animation, looking at family photos, looking at the latest from Hubble, using Microsoft office, or gaming. 64 bit processing will contribute even further in improving that experience.
Another example from that time period and the tangible benefits that have resulted from increasing processing power:
In 1980 I was both a student and an employee of a university. I had one of the very first personal computers a Texas Instruments TI99-4a. My boss had a Commodore 64. Both were essentially 8 bit computers. (Texas Instruments advertised theirs as a 16 bit processor but it was tied off in 8 it mode) At the university we had an IBM system 34 mainframe with a 32 bit processor. To compare computational ability we wrote a simple program to figure all of the ways to make change for a dollar using pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Both my TI99-4a and my bosses Commodore 64 took several hours to complete the program. The IBM system 34 had a solution in under 5 minutes. A pretty tangible performance improvement I would say.
There are numerous examples of people using and needing more computational power. More people today are editing their own videos, making and mixing their own music and dabbling in art with advanced graphics programs. There are those that contribute to distributed computing using Folding Home, Seti, and the Human Genome project. All of which contribute to the betterment of all mankind. I suppose we could do that with 8 and 16 bit processors but then we could all still be driving model T's or riding horseback too. Computers quite simply are a tool to advance mankind. They have the ability to expand our horizons by freeing us to be more creative and by expanding our interactions and knowledge with people all over the world. 64 bit computing is the next logical step in that progession.
Again from your article:
"Yamhill technology, Intel’s half-mythical response to AMD x86-64, i.e. 64bit tuning for 32bit processors, still remains something unclear despite all rumors circulating around. No doubt that Intel does have something done in this respect, but the Pentium 4, Xeon and Itanium families cover all possible applications so well, that it doesn’t make any sense to add anything new right now."
Here you miss the point of what AMD has done. Sure Intel has both 32 and 64 bit computing solutions. The problem is that to effectively run both you need two different computers, with twice the needed area, twice the equipment and twice the expense. The AMD solution allows you to migrate from 32 bit to 64 bit computing at your own speed without any additional expenditure other than the purchase of the software.
The Opteron and the Athlon64 are not the end all, be all of 64 bit computing, they are transitional processors that will ease the move from 32 bit computing to 64 bit in the most efficient and least expensive way to do it.
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Posted by: Mitch
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Date: 07/08/03 01:34:22 PM]
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