AMD has confirmed that it is collaborating with Microsoft to incorporate support for both the desktop and enterprise versions of the 64-bit processors in Windows operating systems.
At this stage AMD hasn't specified which version(s) of the operating system family will support the hammer series. However, it demonstrated the multi-processor version of the chip, the Sledgehammer, running "a developmental 64-bit version of Winodws" at its annual shareholders meeting yesterday.
AMD Australia said that the hammer series proccesors are deisgned to support Windows XP and Windows 2000, but the products that result from the collaboration is yet to be named.
"The official name of this operating system has not been decided yet, but it will be a version after Windows .NET Server," said a spokesperson for AMD.
Having the support of both Linux and Microsoft could help make the hammer series of processors a more compelling alternative to Intel's 64-bit server processor Itanium.
However, Intel was also beating its chest in the 64-bit pantheon today, reminding the market of its intention to release its McKinley processors which it claims will be 1.5 to 2 times faster than its current Itanium series.
The McKinley is scheduled for release mid-year under the name Itanium 2.
AMD also unveiled the brand that Sledgehammer will carry when it is released in the first half of 2003. The multi-processor edition of the 64-bit chip technology will be called Opteron.
Hammer-based chips differ from Intel's 64-bit Itanium chips in that they can read 32-bit. That means they're backward compatible with the vast majority of applications currently used on PCs, yet capable of running 64-bit code used by high-end servers.
To address this discrepancy, sources in the US report that Intel is working on a chip called 'Yamhill' that will perform in a similar manner as Hammer. Michael Kanellos contributed to this report
