Microsoft and Intel are teaming up to educate customers and partners on new and existing opportunities surrounding both companies' broad portfolio of 64-bit technologies. This portfolio of products is expected to help drive broad adoption of 64-bit computing.

According to Microsoft and Intel estimates, 2005 will be the year when, for the first time, the vast majority of new server hardware and high-end workstation shipments will be 64-bit capable. Three factors are contributing to this shift. First, Intel's entire line-up of server platforms will have 64-bit capabilities. Second, the Windows platform will support two different 64-bit architectures: Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing (EPIC), supported by Intel's Itanium processor family, and 64-bit extensions to the x86 instruction set, supported by Intel's 64-bit Xeon and Pentium processors. Third, organizations are increasingly viewing these platforms as a cost-effective alternative to the higher-priced, proprietary 64-bit architecture of RISC-based UNIX servers.

To learn more about the trends in 64-bit computing, PressPass spoke with Bob Muglia, Microsoft senior vice president of the Windows Server Division, and Abhi Talwalkar, senior vice president and co-general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group.