User Scenarios
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Version 2003 for Itanium-based Systems is designed to address the most demanding business needs of technical workstation users who require large amounts of memory and floating point performance in areas such as computer-aided engineering, scientific and high-performance computing applications. Specific examples of business segments that will benefit from the 64-bit Windows platform running on the Intel Itanium Processor Family include the following:
Computer Aided Engineering (CAE)
Design of products such as automobiles and airplanes has developed a marketplace for analysis tools with the ability to determine the effects of factors such as airflow, stress, and heat. These tools perform floating-point, intense, complex mathematical computations to determine the tolerances and characteristics of various materials. In addition, designers can develop real-world scenarios, such as a simulated crash, and apply the results to their models in an effort to improve product design.
Scientific and High-Performance Computing
There are many scientific and high-performance computing applications that can benefit from the large memory support and increased floating point speeds of workstations running Windows XP 64-Bit Edition including oil and gas exploration, weather simulation, and other advanced simulations.
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition allows these large data sets to be loaded into memory for rapid access by the processor. Since data in memory is accessed about 10,000 times faster than it is on a disk drive, analysis can be performed quickly. Data can also be represented visually in detailed 2-D or 3-D models providing a robust platform for all types of scientific and high-performance computing.
Benefits of 64-Bit Windows
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition provides a scalable, high-performance platform for a new generation of applications based on the Win64TM API. Compared to 32-bit systems, its architecture provides more efficient processing of extremely large amounts of data, supporting up to eight terabytes of virtual memory. With 64-bit Windows, applications can pre-load substantially more data into virtual memory to enable rapid access by the IA-64 processor.
Large Memory Support
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition supports up to 16 GB of RAM and 16 terabytes of virtual memory, enabling applications to run faster when working with large data sets. Applications can preload substantially more data into virtual memory, allowing rapid access by the Intel Itanium processor. This reduces the time for loading data into virtual memory or seeking, reading, and writing to data storage devices, thus making applications run faster and more efficiently.
Comparison of 64-Bit and 32-Bit Architectures
Address space 64-bit Windows 32-bit Windows
Virtual memory 16 terabytes 4 GB
Paging file 512 terabytes 16 terabytes
Paged pool 128 GB 470 MB
Non-paged pool 128 GB 256 MB
System cache 1 terabyte 1 GB
Optimized for the Intel Itanium Processor Family
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition has been optimized specifically for the Intel Itanium 2 processor, and benefits from its key features, such as the Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing (EPIC) design. The EPIC instruction set, which differs from the IA-32 (x86) instruction set, enables Intel Itanium processors to perform up to 20 operations simultaneously.
Floating-Point
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition also takes advantage of the increased floating-point performance, or the raw number of calculations that can be processed in a given period of time, of the Intel Itanium platform. An 900-Mhz processor running at peak performance is capable of up to 6.4 GFLOPS—essential power for data-crunching scenarios such as Mechanical Computer Aided Engineering (MCAE) and financial operations.
More information about the Intel Itanium processor family is available at http://www.intel.com/itanium/.
Multiprocessing
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition is designed to support up to two symmetric Intel Itanium 2 processors for maximum performance and scalability.
Single Desktop for Technical and Business Applications
Compatibility
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition provides a rich platform to integrate both 64-bit technical applications and 32-bit business applications using the Windows on Windows 64 (WOW64) x86 emulation layer. The WOW64 subsystem isolates 32-bit applications from 64-bit applications, preventing file and registry collisions. Both console and graphical user interface (GUI) applications are supported, as are service applications. The system provides interoperability across the 32/64 boundary for scenarios such as cut-and-paste operations and COM. However, 32-bit processes cannot load 64-bit dynamic-link libraries (DLLs), and 64-bit processes cannot load 32-bit DLLs.
While 64-bit hardware will be compatible with many 32-bit applications, 32-bit applications will perform better on 32-bit hardware. WOW64 is intended to run 32-bit personal productivity applications, enabling new levels of creativity and collaboration.
Familiar Environment
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition can be managed using the same tools as 32-bit Windows systems. Users will find their 32-bit Windows knowledge to be fully transferable to the 64-bit Windows environment. Setup, configuration, and administration will also be essentially the same. Users, system administrators, and helpdesk staff will find the 64-bit Windows user interface (UI) very similar to the 32-bit Windows XP UI. This allows organizations to standardize on one operating system for all their desktops, saving substantial amounts of money in management costs.
Windows-based Solution
Windows® provides the largest breadth of applications, hardware providers, and support partners, giving users more choices in how they create their solutions.
Best Platform for the Next Generation of Applications
Same Programming Model
Developers with 32-bit skills will be comfortable and productive in the Windows on Itanium environment. Developers working on applications for 64-bit Windows will find the development environment virtually identical to the development environment for 32-bit Windows; the Microsoft Win64TM application programming interface (API) is the same as the Microsoft Win32® API. The existing APIs have been modified where necessary to allow them to reflect the precision of the platform on which they are running. The result is programming simplicity and a short learning curve for the developer—writing code for 64-bit Windows is just like writing code for 32-bit Windows.
The 64-bit Windows development environment supports the same feature set as 32-bit Windows, including UI and programming models, networking, security, graphics, multimedia, directory service, Plug and Play, and tools features. Many of the functions have been modified to reflect the computational precision of the platform on which an application is run.
The result is simplicity and a short learning curve for the developer—writing code for 64-bit Windows is just like writing code for 32-bit Windows.
Robust Development Tools
Windows has the most robust development tools of any platform, making it easy to build the next generation of applications. A developer can set up the Microsoft Visual Studio® development system to build 64-bit applications instead of 32-bit applications, or create an integrated project in that builds both 64-bit and 32-bit binaries files. It is recommended that developers use 32-bit Windows and Microsoft Visual C++® on a Pentium computer to build 64-bit Windows executable programs.
The Platform SDK supports new data types that allow pointers and pointer-associated variables to reflect the precision of the platform. This means that developers can compile a single source base to run natively on either Win32- or Win64-based systems. The same source is both 64-bit source and 32-bit source. This strategy reduces the cost of developing applications for the 64-bit architecture. Simply build code in the 32-bit environment, then recompile it and test it in the 64-bit Windows environment.
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