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A 64-bit processor performs best with 64-bit software. A 64-bit processor may have backward compatibility, allowing it to run 32-bit application software for the 32-bit version of its instruction set, and may also support running 32-bit operating systems for the 32-bit version of its instruction set. A 32-bit processor is incompatible with 64 ...
The five-volume set of the x86-64 Architecture Programmer's Manual, as published and distributed by AMD in 2002. x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) [note 1] is a 64-bit version of the x86 instruction set, first announced in 1999. It introduced two new modes of operation, 64-bit mode and compatibility mode, along with a new ...
However, the opposite is often true for newer 32-bit designs. For example, the Pentium Pro processor is a 32-bit machine, with 32-bit registers and instructions that manipulate 32-bit quantities, but the external address bus is 36 bits wide, giving a larger address space than 4 GB, and the external data bus is 64 bits wide, primarily in order ...
The great leap toward 64-bit computing and the maintenance of backward compatibility with 32-bit and 16-bit software enabled the x86 architecture to become an extremely flexible platform today, with x86 chips being utilized from small low-power systems (for example, Intel Quark and Intel Atom) to fast gaming desktop computers (for example ...
Another example is the x86 family, of which processors of three different word lengths (16-bit, later 32- and 64-bit) have been released, while word continues to designate a 16-bit quantity. As software is routinely ported from one word-length to the next, some APIs and documentation define or refer to an older (and thus shorter) word-length ...
For example, Win32 is the major version of Windows API that runs on 32-bit systems. The name, Windows API, collectively refers to all versions of this capability of Windows. Microsoft provides developer support via a software development kit , Microsoft Windows SDK , which includes documentation and tools for building software based on the ...
Double-precision binary floating-point is a commonly used format on PCs, due to its wider range over single-precision floating point, in spite of its performance and bandwidth cost. It is commonly known simply as double. The IEEE 754 standard specifies a binary64 as having: Sign bit: 1 bit. Exponent: 11 bits.
An instruction set architecture (ISA) is an abstract model of a computer, also referred to as computer architecture.A realization of an ISA is called an implementation.An ISA permits multiple implementations that may vary in performance, physical size, and monetary cost (among other things); because the ISA serves as the interface between software and hardware.