* Download CPP for Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition
I’m sure everyone is chaffing at the bit wondering about the answer to the big question of the day: Now that Bill Gates is a Knight Commander of the British Empire, will he be invited to Prince Charles’ wedding? I’m afraid I don’t know, maybe you’ll have to watch Oprah to find out. Instead, I’ve been wondering when we’ll be able to get our hands on the new 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003. And that one I do know the answer to: You can get it right now.
The Customer Preview Program (CPP) for Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 (W2K3X64) Edition is now available for download or can be delivered on a CD (see links below).
Of course, you’ll need a server-class hardware platform sporting an Intel 64-bit processor (EM64T, but not Itanium) or an AMD64 in order to try it out – but you’ve been wanting one of those anyway, haven’t you?
W2K3X64 will, of course, blaze through 64-bit versions of your current 32-bit (or 16-bit) applications. Because the biggest advantage to the 64-bit model is the huge amount of RAM it can address directly (up to a terabyte), large data sets can be loaded entirely into memory, reducing the need for slower disk access. Complex calculations that take hours to complete on 32-bit systems can be reduced to minutes. Workloads that now require large server farms can be deployed on a single server. In other words, you can do more, with less and do it much, much faster. That ought to be enough to justify buying the hardware to test the CPP on, right?
In the CPP kit you’ll get:
* Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition RC2 CD (build 1433).
* Product Key (required for installation).
* Links to additional Web-based documentation.
* Access to a private newsgroup to help you address any technical questions while evaluating the trial software
You’ll also be eligible for newer releases of the pre-release software when and if it becomes available.
You should visit the W3K3X64 product page (https://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/64bit/x64/enterprise.mspx) and read about its features and requirements before deciding if this might be a good move for you and your organization. If you think it might be, CPP is a very good way to find out more before making that final commitment to migrating to the new platform.
