ZD on 64 Bits: Wrong Facts Hurt Your Argument

Read this article carefully. It contains some very misleading information. While it is true that Intel's 64-bit processors such as the 6XX series support the "execute disable bit" (and all AMD Athlon 64 processors do too), the execute disable capabilities which improve security are also available on recent Intel 32-bit processors, such as the 5XX J series.

The Itanium processors supported execute disable back in 2001. This hardware allows an operating system to lock down memory pages, effectively shutting a big door to buffer-overrun hacking attacks.

I highly recommend new PC buyers select a processor from AMD or Intel which supports execute disable, and then install (32-bit) Windows XP SP2, which will use the execute disable capability if present.

Now that that's explained, aren't we begging the question: what is the mainstream market need for 64 bits? Some code runs faster, but the operating system takes up more main memory. My research suggests corporate buyers are not yet ready to leap to 1 GB on mainstream enterprise PCs -- the exception being power-user workstations. And 64 bit OS support is only really needed above 2 GB. I conclude that 64-bit computing is not going to add much pleasure to enterprise computing anytime soon.

Peter S. Kastner