Microsoft is migrating many of its internal servers to the new 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003, but concedes its 64-bit desktop product remains a work in progress.
Danny Beck, Microsoft Windows client senior product marketing manager, confirmed on Friday that servers running the company"s Web site and MSN Search and Messenger applications had been migrated to the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003. "Our MSN search engine is actually built on several thousand systems running the x64 version of Windows," Beck said. In addition, "the entire Microsoft.com site has been migrated, and we serve 30 million unique visitors every day."
Beck said performance of the MSN Messenger servers has improved 10 times since they went 64-bit. The servers handle about 70 million instant-messenger users. However, while Microsoft is keen to tout the server version"s stability, the desktop version is not as mature. Greg Sullivan, a lead product manager in the company"s Windows unit, told CNET News.com that the desktop version "is not quite there" in terms of quality, and even hardware makers admit there might be issues