Fwd: On the road to 64-bits

"Open" "webzine" has an interesting couple of articles on 64-bit 
computing. I don't know that it says anything meaningful, but the 
update on Gelato (linux on Itanium) was interesting.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Open" <[email protected]>
> Date: Fri Jun 6, 2003  5:17:21  PM US/Eastern
> Subject: On the road to 64-bits
>
> June 6, 2003
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>
> Betwixt and between AMD's launch of Opteron and Intel's launch of 
> Itanium 2, Open takes a detour to look at the road to 64-bits. Like 
> many big-concept projects, from the Big Dig in Boston to Hwy101 on the 
> way to San Jose, the road to 64-bits has been long, treacherous, and 
> littered with very famous road kill.
>
> Who needs 64-bits? If you have to ask, you probably don't. But if you 
> do need either bits of precision or bits of memory "as far as the eye 
> can see," there's another key question: Will those bits be worth what 
> it takes to get them?
>
> This week, Open turns the question into our issue's focus, only to 
> find that the road signs, as always, point to software, software, 
> software in the form of libraries, compilers, and tools. We talk to 
> Gelato Federation's head, Dr. Mark Smith, about what Gelato's 
> powerhouse members, which include the likes of CERN, INRIA, and 
> university supercomputer sites, are doing to prove the Itanium 
> software story. And we talk to Illuminata analyst Gordon Haff, who 
> provides a perspective on vendor dynamics underlying IBM's and Sun's 
> lukewarm Itanium embrace.
>
> Next we talk to Dr. Rob Meyer, North American president of the 
> Oxford-based Numerical Algorithms Group. NAG is a strategic partner of 
> both AMD and Intel and provides critically important numerical 
> libraries.
>
> Meanwhile, stay tuned for further road work, as openBenchLabs sets up 
> shop next week to test claims and counter-claims of just how "easy" it 
> is to move to 64-bits.
>
> For this week's learnings, click on 
> http://www.open-mag.com/7607734100.html to go straight to the 
> subscriber home page and story links. And remember to send a copy to 
> your friends mired in proprietary systems.
>
> Regards,
>
> The editors of Open magazine
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T.T.F.N.
William H. Magill
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]