Intel and Microsoft on Tuesday released software designed to improve the performance of Windows applications designed for 32-bit processors when they are running on Intel"s 64-bit Itanium 2 processors. Several years in development, the IA-32 Execution Layer software is slated for inclusion in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, which is expected in the second half of this year. But it can now be downloaded for Window Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition, and Windows XP 64-bit Edition. Linux versions of the IA-32 EL are also expected later this year from SuSE Linux AG and Red Hat Linux.
Higher Speeds
The new software will let 32-bit applications run at 50 to 60 percent the speed of their 64-bit equivalents on Itanium processors. This means that, for example, an Itanium system that scored a SPECint base benchmark of 1300 running a 64-bit version of the benchmark software would score approximately 700 running a 32-bit version with the IA-32 EL software. Intel plans to improve the IA-32 EL"s performance until it approaches 70 percent of Itanium"s 64-bit performance, says Mike Fister, the senior vice president and general manager of Intel"s Enterprise Platforms Group. But it was unlikely the software could improve performance beyond that, he says.