Microsoft's Jim Allchin asked software developers to put their efforts into 64 bit now.

Intel may have been a bit slow about catching up to AMD in the area of 64 bit computing, and even in recognizing the importance of the technology. Several presentations and product demonstrations, however, leave little doubt that the company has gained ground quickly in the past month, and will aggressively drive the transition towards 64 bit. By the end of this year, the company will ship 100 percent of its server processor output with 64 bit capability. The corporate client share will be greater than 50 percent.

The message to developers was to get started with the conversion of their code as soon as possible. "Develop for 64 bit now. The transition is underway," said Pat Gelsinger, Intel's head of the Digital Enterprise Group. This very direct comment underlines the fact that the company apparently does not want to waste any more time before leveraging the technology's performance potential.

Of course, behind the call to developers is the truism that any hardware technology will only succeed if there is software that supports it. As is the case with multithreading, there are very few apps in most market segments right now that take advantage of 64 bit hardware. And unlike AMD, which believes in providing users a choice between 32 bit and 64 bit, Intel's approach appears to be more aggressive and suggests that the days of 32 bit are numbered.

In fact, this outreach to developers to move to 64 bit very likely was the loudest so far, and has already rallied firms such as Microsoft and game developer Ubisoft behind Intel's strategy. Microsoft in particular used the IDF again to promote its products, such as its upcoming Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, which is to ship in late March or early April. The company also reiterated its support for a full range of 64 bit Windows products - from the datacenter (with Itanium support) down to the desktop.

Microsoft's message to developers was the same: now is the time to move to 64 bit. The company, however, singled out the need for driver software as most important. "You do need to convert your drivers," said group vice president Jim Allchin. He indirectly confirmed that driver development for a range of hardware products still is lagging behind.