In article ,
(Tim Shoppa) writes:
| E wrote in message ...
|
| This is where it gets interesting. Why doesn't Microsoft have an x86-64
| version ready of Windows XP?
|
| Set your wayback machine to the early-mid-90's and remember that Microsoft
| sold Windows NT for a 64-bit platform (Alpha) before. Rumors have it that
| other RISC platforms were targets back then too. Clearly they have (or
| had) some internal experience with multiple target platforms, even though
| it's not nearly as extensive as the Linux experience.

Rumours also have it that most of the porting was done by DEC people,
that little of the coding has been preserved, that none of the other
projects got off the drawing board (within Microsoft) and that most of
the Microsoft people who did work on the Alpha have left.

The real issue is whether the Itanium port has been done competently,
or by simply spawning off another completely unportable code stream.
I have not heard any reliable rumours either way.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.