The 64-bit extensions used by Advanced Micro Devices and Intel are virtually identical and should not present any major software incompatibility problems, according to a report from market research firm In-Stat/MDR released this week. But one small difference between the two architectures provides a glimpse of how the two companies manage to produce compatible products without formal interaction.
Rather than congenial conferences among executives separated by rounds of golf, the vital task of making sure software based on the x86 instruction set works on both Intel and AMD systems comes down to engineers, technical documentation, and chip testing.
News source: PC World
