Today will bring us Microsoft's official launch of their new 64bit operating systems, and as a final insight leading up to this huge forward leap in the computing world, AMD have written up their "Pervasive 64-bit computing - ready for liftoff" article which keeps the excitement in motion as we now await MS to strut their stuff and kick off these 64bit pieces of work for the best in future-proof software material.

The launch of Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 x64 and Windows® XP Pro x64 operating systems is nearly upon us. Unlike the move to 32-bit hardware and software a decade

ago, this industry milestone is different because there is already a solid ecosystem of developers, integrators and manufacturers defining what the 64-bit world will look like:

· Microsoft's 64-bit operating systems will bring to more than 25 the number of OS's that enable end users to take advantage of AMD64 technology.
· More than 300 development organizations are harnessing the power of AMD64 technology.
· More than 120 infrastructure and vertical market applications are available for x86-based 64-bit computing.
· More than 100 64-bit development tools for the x86 architecture are in the works, and almost 90 of those are already shipping.

This extraordinary momentum allows software developers to seize on the promise of AMD64 computing. Whether it's visualization software, databases, or video games, more than 300 ISVs are building

technology on the AMD platform. These are some of the biggest names in the business - IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat, Sun, and many others.