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64-bit

Could 64-bit Windows finally be taking off?

If you build it, it appears they will come, eventually.

Such is the case with 64-bit computing. Advanced Micro Devices launched 64-bit chips for the desktop back in 2003, hoping the fact that it was there and didn't cost extra would convince consumers.

"Our industry, right now, is hungry for another round of innovation," AMD chief Hector Ruiz told the crowd at the San Francisco launch in September 2003. Not that hungry, apparently.

Of course, the hardware wasn't much use without a 64-bit operating system. After several fits and starts, Microsoft finally released a 64-bit version … Read more

Gateway rolls out new notebooks; Sony doesn't

The Gateway notebook roll-out is official. Sony's is not. Gateway Computer announced three lines of notebook PCs on Monday with 64-bit Windows, while Circuit City prematurely posted images of upcoming Sony notebooks.

Gateway rolled out three notebooks targeted at students. The P series desktop replacement comes with a 17-inch widescreen, the M series with a 15.4-inch screen, and the T series uses a 14.1-inch screen.

All systems come with 64-bit Windows Vista Home Premium and pack 4GB of memory--the minimum for acceptable performance in 64-bit Windows.

(See Gateway goes all 64-bit in back-to-school desktops.)

The 15-inch "… Read more

Alienware: Game PCs need more than faster chips

Fast silicon is hitting a wall in game PCs, according to Alienware, which is looking for ways to boost game PC performance.

Parent company Dell vowed on Tuesday to pour more resources into the game PC unit and invest in "product development, design, and engineering."

Alienware's Marc Diana believes optimizing systems for the 64-bit world would allow game PCs to make big strides in performance. In effect, today's 32-bit environments are putting a crimp on PC-based gaming.

"So many people are caught up in this hardware race. Dual-core, quad-core this and that," said Diana, … Read more

Next Photoshop will get 64-bit boost--on Windows only

Adobe Systems has shared the first scrap of information about its next version of Photoshop, CS4, and it's a doozy: there will be a 64-bit version of the photo-editing software, but only for Windows and not for Mac OS X.

Adobe generally keeps features in the Windows and Mac versions at a level of parity, but that wasn't possible this time around because of a change Apple made last year to the Mac's programming underpinnings, John Nack, Adobe's product manager for Photoshop, said in an interview.

"We're not going to ship 64-bit native for … Read more