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Windows users push 64-bit era


By David Worthington
September 1, 2008 — 
Like cream being slowly turned into butter, the 64-bit era of computing is steadily approaching. New data from Microsoft indicates a marked increase in the number of PCs running the 64-bit edition of Windows Vista.

In a July 30 posting to the Windows Vista team blog, Microsoft revealed that 64-bit Windows Vista PCs as a percentage of all Windows Vista systems had more than tripled over the past three months in the U.S. market. Worldwide adoption more than doubled during the same period, the company said.

According to published reports, Microsoft used data from its Windows Update servers to calculate that 5.18% of machines were running 64-bit editions of Windows 64 in June, up from 1.45% in March.

Growth of Windows Vista 64-bit systems is outpacing 32-bit growth, and retail volumes will accelerate the trend, wrote Chris Flores, a director at Microsoft working on the Windows Client Communications Team. Flores declined to provide additional information about the adoption of 32- and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista.

Indeed, Microsoft’s use of data from Windows Update is revealing: It chose to use consumer data to bolster its argument. Windows Update is not the prescribed update mechanism for Windows in the enterprise.

“The consumer shift [to 64-bit Windows] is ahead of the enterprise,” said Yankee Group research fellow Laura DiDio. “Consumers use applications that are getting bigger, more complex and more advanced; they need more power and more memory,” and 64-bit Windows provides for that, she noted.

As anecdotal evidence, 90% of the Windows desktop PCs and 30% of the notebooks Gateway sold in its fiscal third quarter were 64-bit, according to Lisa Emard, a spokesperson for Gateway.

Other OEMs, including Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Sony, did not return requests for comment by press time.

Flores said the company recognized that there was a platform shift from 32-bit to 64-bit software and hardware under way, and added that Microsoft was working closely with its partners to ensure that their products and devices are compatible with 64-bit editions of Windows Vista.

IHVs are required to rewrite device drivers for the 64-bit Windows programming model; 32-bit applications may still run on the OS.

It is going to be a steady, measured transition, said DiDio. “There are lots of 32-bit applications and legacy versions of Windows out there. We are certainly going to see a transition to 64-bit, but it is not going to be a tidal wave that will sweep away all of the 32-bit stuff.”

While she predicted that the shift would accelerate over the next 15 to 18 months, DiDio added that the economic downturn in the U.S. and resultant tight budgets have hampered its pace.

Further, corporate refresh cycles and spending habits are more conservative than consumer tastes, she said. “People have more state of the art systems at home than in the office.”

Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, said the shift to 64-bit editions of Windows Vista could be happening, but added that he had not seen any data to back up that assertion.


Related Search Term(s): Windows, Microsoft


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