Microsoft has announced
that any kernel-mode software running Windows Vista x64 must be digitally
signed. Besides the announcement, Microsoft also released a Word
document that covers the signing process for kernel-mode code in Vista.
For Vista, the digital signing of kernel-mode code means that:
- only administrators can install unsigned drivers
- drivers that stream protected content must be signed
- unsigned kernel-mode software will not run on x64-based systems
-anyone wishing to write drivers for Vista must have a Publisher Identity Certificate (PIC) from Microsoft.
Christian
The price of 64-bit AMD dual-core processor just took a significant drop with today's announcement from them. See the
Press Room for the new pricing. I'll be interested to see what that works out to on the street, but it should help for those who can't wait till we see the new AM2 socket chips.
Deciding if a processor you have or want to buy is x64 capable should be easy, right? And certainly, if it’s an AMD processor, it’s fairly easy, though even they don’t make it as easy as they could. So, here's my best shot at giving you the information you need to figure out if your processor supports the x64 Editions of Microsoft Windows.
AMD Processors
AMD, the developers of the AMD64 architecture that is now called “x64” (a Microsoft invented name, so far as I know), are proud of their 64-bit processors and put the 64 right in the name. So, the easy answer is, if there is 64 in the name, it’s x64 capable! Plus, of course, all Opteron processors are x64 capable. So, that part is pretty easy, if you’re careful about looking at the name. This means all Opteron, Athlon 64, Athlon 64 x2, Athlon 64 FX, Turion 64, and Mobile Athlon 64 processors are x64 capable.
Sempron processors are a bit trickier – if they’re 754 pin processors, they should be x64 capable, and they will, usually, say Sempron 64, but not universally. Sempron processors that use Socket A are not x64 capable.
Older, Athlon XP, processors, are definitely not x64 capable.
A good general rule for AMD processors is that Socket 754, Socket 939, and Socket 940 processors are x64 capable, as will the new Socket M processors be, when they’re released.
Intel Processors
The story on the Intel side is a lot trickier and harder to tell what you’re getting. The code words to look for with Intel processors are “EM64T”, which is the Intel trademark for their version of x64 technology. (Well, you wouldn’t expect them to call it AMD64, now, would you?) With Intel, you need to know which processor series you’re getting, and sometimes you have to look at specific processor model numbers. I’m not going to try to keep a complete list here – it’s too hard to keep it up to date. But I’ll give you some basic guidelines, and after that, if you’re unsure, you’ll need to go to the Intel Processor page to get more details.
First, the easy ones. All Pentium D processors (800 series) are x64 capable, as well as being dual core. All mobile Intel processors, including the new Core Duo processors, are not x64 capable. (And yes, I’m seriously disappointed in Intel for not giving us dual core, x64 capable laptop processors. )
So much for the easy ones. Now, for the rest. Older Xeon (pre-2004) and Xeon MP processors are generally not x64 capable, and, of course, Itanium and Itanium2 processors are not x64 capable (though they ARE 64 bit, but a different architecture.)
Pentium 4 processors in the 600 series are x64 capable, as are the new 900 series processors. Pentium 4 and Celeron processors in the 300 and 500 series you’ll need to know the specific processor number, and then check against the master PDF list that Intel has at: http://www.intel.com/products/processor_number/proc_info_table.pdf. And to find out exactly what processor number you have, download the processor identification utility from Intel: http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/cs-015477.htm
Finally, all current Xeon processors are x64 capable. For older ones, check against the master PDF list if in doubt.
Charlie.
The Microsoft Shell (aka, Monad and msh) Beta 3 for x64 has released to public beta. It requires a registration, but the download is available at:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9FE1977D-3DE2-47C2-B0BA-62339BCD505A&displaylang=en
Note: if you have a previous beta installed, you'll need to uninstall it first. More on that later...
Charlie.
I'm tired of posting this over and over and over again in the 64-bit newsgroup, so I'll post it here and hope at least a few more folks find it and save themselves some grief.
Nvidia, in their infinite wisdom, include a semi-hardware firewall in their 64-bit chipset. Now I have no idea if it's actually any good, but I do know that it will absolutely screw up your Windows XP x64 Edition installation if you ignore it. Apparently there is a part of it that is enabled by default, even if you explicitly do not install the software portion of the firewall. This portion will prevent any 32-bit application (including Outlook, and 32-bit IE) from connecting to the Internet. Is this documented anywhere by Nvidia? Not that I have seen. Has Nvidia done anything to change this behaviour or help folks out? Again, not that I have seen. Has Nvidia even responded to users who have tried to understand what is happening with their machines? Yup, you guessed it. Not that I have seen reported anywhere. So, what to do? How can you get your 32-bit applications to connect to the Internet? You'll love this one. Ready?
Install the Nvidia Firewall software. And then UN-INSTALL it.
Right. That makes sense. Well, I have no idea why this ridiculous process is required, or what it changes in the hardware side of the firewall, but whatever it is, this works very reliably according to many, many folks. For my part, given how responsive Nvidia has been about this in the months and months since x64 Edition was released, I'll be buying a Crossfire motherboard next time.
Charlie.