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Microsoft plans WinHEC debut for 64-bit Windows

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
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Stephen Shankland

Microsoft plans to announce a significant operating system upgrade at its own Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in April: support for the 64-bit memory extensions in newer x86 processors.

The company already had committed to an April release after earlier delays. But Andy Lees, corporate vice president of marketing for Microsoft's server and tools business, shed a little more detail on the release timing Tuesday during an event in San Francisco where Intel unveiled new 64-bit Xeon processors.

"We'll announce the availability of that at WinHEC," he said about the new 64-bit Windows edition.

In addition, Microsoft will help tow software partners into the new computing realm, Lees said. "We'll be announcing at WinHEC a raft of people making 64-bit versions of their applications available."