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64 bit compatibility

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by kuryous1

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Hello!
I understand that eventually, computer desktops will go 64 bit. AMD has the Athlon-64 and eventually, Intel after the Prescott series. How will this effect current 32-bit applications. Will the O/S written for these chips also support 32-bitapps? Thanks in advance!

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by thechas

The answer depends on the goals of the architects of the OS.

A CPU can run any process that uses not more buss width than it has.

You can run DOS applications (8 bit) on an Athlon, or a P4.

You can run Windows 3.1 applications (16 bit) also.

As long as the OS maintains some backwards compatibility, you will have no problems running 32 bit applications on a 64 bit CPU.

Chas

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