Windows 8: 128-bit Operating System?
Filed under: Computers, Software | By: Jamie Pert
Posted on: October 7, 2009 | 5 Comments
We haven’t yet seen the official release for Windows 7, however there is already talk about a new Microsoft Windows 8 Operating System, one rumor is that Windows 8 will support the 128-bit architecture.
It was originally thought that Windows 8 would be 64-bit only, however according to a developer it seems a natural progression to support a degree of 128-bit thus making Windows 9 a natural progression to fully support the 128-bit architecture.
Obviously at the moment all of this information is based on statements made by a developer, however if we hear any more details confirming/refuting these statements we will keep you posted.
Personally I still don’t think Microsoft have fully unlocked the potential of 64-bit software, until they do I do not think they should move on to a 128-bit architecture, for more info check out SlashGear.
Do you think Microsoft should concentrate on the 128-bit architecture? Or is it too soon?
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Uh, why would you need 128-bit architecture, unless Windows 8 is coming out 15 years from now. 64-bit architecture lets you address 16.7 million terabytes of memory (yes, 16.7 billion gigabytes of ram).
The overhead of using 16 bytes to address memory would be significant. Even using 8 bytes for 64-bit computing today can slow down programs.
And what processors support 128-bit? Using what instruction set?
Thats great, we hope the computer can be much faster than the internet..Amin
@pianom4n:
You’re missing the point here. Making the transition from 64 bits to 128 bits in software obviously helps in being prepared when said transition is going to be made. We only took about 25 years to go form kilobytes to gigabytes, and it’s reasonable to expect the same amount of time for entering the Petabytes-of-RAM era. But it isn’t all about RAM adressing. Jumping right to a 128 bits instruction set allows for many more extensions to be incorporated in the ISA, and also to cram many more parameters within one instruction in a far more elegant way. Think about privilege levels and VM-ID’s. And maybe AMD, ARM or someone else is smart enough to beat Intel to the punch and get a 128bits CPU out of the door, and level the playfield in CPU land to their advantage.
Sure, you will suffer from code bloat due to swollen opcodes and pointers, but that’s only a minor disadvantage cos you only have to do it once. After 128 bits, it’s highly unlikely we’ll see 256 bits within a few millennia.
come on no one will just upgrade to anything that supports that you need to support all systems not just 2000 doller intel systems that dont even patch when released
concentrate on perfection not latest which will need patch
I love 128bit computers back when I was in the military!