Microsoft Launches 64-bit Windows

By Ian Bell Updated April 25, 2005

“The new Windows won’t be showing up on retail shelves, though. Customers who buy a desktop or server with a 64-bit chip will have the option of getting the new operating system, while people who own an existing 64-bit machine will have the option of trading in their old 32-bit Windows for the 64-bit upgrade.

The so-called x64 versions of Windows support chips from Intel and AMD that have added 64-bit instructions to the existing Pentium and Athlon architectures. Microsoft already has a version of Windows for Intel’s high-end 64-bit Itanium chip, which uses a completely distinct instructions set. “

If you have a 64-bit based system, you may want to make sure that drivers are available for your hardware before updating your OS to the new Windows 64-bit.

Read more at News.com

Also, PCWorld test drives the new Windows XP Professional x64 operating system.

Publisher

I work with the best people in the world and get paid to play with gadgets. What's not to like?

Computing

This 15-inch Windows laptop is $280 in the HP back-to-school sale

The HP 15 laptop on a table.

HP has one of the best laptop deals for students on a budget. Right now, you can buy an HP 15-inch laptop with Windows 11 Home for $280 instead of $460. A sizeable saving of $180, it's a fair bit more affordable than most other options around right now. While it's fairly basic, it should suffice for all your school needs. Here's what else you need to know.

Why you should buy the HP 15z Laptop
With an AMD Athlon Silver processor, 8GB of memory and 128GB of SSD storage, the HP 15z Laptop is pretty basic but it's fine for web browsing, typing up documents, and other general tasks. You can even stream your favorite shows with the 15.6-inch HD screen offering a resolution of 1366 x 768, 250 nits of brightness, and micro-edge bezels. An 85% screen-to-body ratio is pretty good too for ensuring a slim design.

Deals

Best Microsoft Office deals: Get Word, PowerPoint, and Excel for free

Students using Microsoft Office software on their laptops outside.

While there are comparable options for office-based tools, none are so well-known as Microsoft's Office Suite. In fact, Microsoft Office is so ubiquitous these days that it's practically a necessity for anyone who writes, manages spreadsheets or gives presentations for a living. By now, you've most likely used one of the Office tools for work, play, or something in between, or maybe you used an alternative. In any case, the Office suite has a lot more to offer than just Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and recent variants of the suite have moved over to allow for cloud access. There are a lot of options at your disposal, so if you need help finding the right package, our roundup of the best Microsoft Office deals can make things a bit easier -- and hopefully save you some cash.
Today's best Microsoft Office deals
Microsoft 365 free trial

If you're looking for a Microsoft Word free trial, you should know that the popular word processor is now synonymous, and rolled up into, Microsoft Office 365, the latest version of Microsoft's Office Suite. But the good news is that you can take advantage of an Office 365 free trial to give the suite a good ol' college try. New subscribers can sign up totally free, no credit card required, and cancel anytime. That will give you access to all of the apps in the suite, including Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more.

Computing

The one other Windows laptop that could dethrone the Dell XPS 15

Dell XPS 15 9530 front view showing display and keyboard deck.

The Dell XPS 15 has been a staple of the "powerful, but sleek" laptop set for as long as it's been around. It's a fantastic balance of performance and portability, and it acts as a brilliant counterbalance to the MacBook Pro in the world of Windows.

But a newcomer has arrived to challenge the XPS 15's throne, especially in a year when its 2023 update was considerably meager.