Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

In this article, we will explore the impact of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition on contemporary society. From its origins to its relevance today, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition has played a fundamental role in various aspects of daily life. We will analyze how Windows XP Professional x64 Edition has evolved over time and how it continues to influence the way we relate, work and navigate in the digital world. Through different perspectives and opinions, we will examine the importance and implications of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition in today's society and its projection into the future.

For the 64-bit Windows XP for Itanium systems, see Windows XP 64-bit Edition.
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Screenshot of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition running the Luna visual style, showing the start menu and the "About Windows" window
DeveloperMicrosoft
OS familyWindows NT
Working stateNo longer supported
Source model
Initial releaseApril 25, 2005 (2005-04-25)[1]
Final releaseService Pack 2 with May 14, 2019 security update (5.2.3790.6787) / April 19, 2019 (2019-04-19)[2]
Kernel typeHybrid kernel
Default
user interface		Graphical user interface
LicenseProprietary commercial software
Official websiteWindows XP Professional x64 Edition overview (archived at Wayback Machine)
Support status
Mainstream support ended on April 14, 2009.[3]
Extended support ended on April 8, 2014.[3]
Part of a series of articles on
Windows XP
Siblings

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is an edition of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system for x86-64 personal computers. It was released on April 25, 2005, alongside the x86-64 versions of Windows Server 2003. It is designed to use the expanded 64-bit memory address space provided by the x86-64 architecture.[1]

The primary benefit of moving to 64-bit is the increase in the maximum allocatable random-access memory (RAM). 32-bit editions of Windows XP are limited to a total of 4 gigabytes. Although the theoretical memory limit of a 64-bit computer is about 16 exabytes (17.1 billion gigabytes), Windows XP x64 is limited to 128 GB of physical memory and 16 terabytes of virtual memory.[4]

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition uses the same kernel and code tree as Windows Server 2003[5] and is serviced by the same service packs.[6] However, it includes client features of Windows XP such as System Restore, Windows Messenger, Fast User Switching, Welcome Screen, Security Center and games, which Windows Server 2003 does not have.

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is not to be confused with Windows XP 64-Bit Edition as the latter was designed for Itanium architecture.[7][8] During the initial development phases, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition was named Windows XP 64-Bit Edition for 64-Bit Extended Systems[9] and later as Windows XP 64-Bit Edition for Extended Systems.

Advantages

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition offers a number of benefits/advantages over the main 32-bit x86 versions of Windows XP:

Hardware

  • Supports up to 128 GB of RAM.[10] All other versions of Windows XP for x86 only supported up to 4 GB of RAM.
  • Supports up to two physical CPUs (in separate physical sockets) and up to 64 logical processors[11] (i.e. cores or threads on a single CPU). Windows XP Professional for x86 supported up to two physical CPUs but is limited to a maximum of 32 logical processors.
  • Supports GPT-partitioned disks for data volumes (but not bootable volumes) after SP1,[12] which allows disks greater than 2 TB to be used as a single GPT partition for storing data.

End user

  • Windows XP Professional x64 Edition allows for faster encoding of audio or video, higher performance in video gaming and faster 3D rendering than 32-bit versions of Windows XP, in software optimized for 64-bit hardware.
  • Internet Information Services (IIS) version 6.0, the same version that was included in Windows Server 2003, is included with Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. All other 32-bit editions of Windows XP have IIS v5.1.
  • Windows Media Player version 10, the version that came with Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, is included with Windows XP Profesional x64 Edition.[13] Windows XP Professional for x86 originally shipped with Windows Media Player version 8 from RTM to Service Pack 1 and later came with Windows Media Player 9 from Service Pack 2 onwards, with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 receiving Windows Media Player 10. Windows Media Player 11 is available for x86 versions of Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later.
  • Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) features and improvements made in Windows Server 2003 were included with Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.[14]
  • Shadow Copy, a feature that automatically creates daily backups of files and folders, was first introduced in Windows Server 2003 and is available in Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.[15][further explanation needed]
  • Remote Desktop Services supports Unicode keyboard input, client-side time-zone redirection, GDI+ rendering primitives for improved performance, FIPS encryption, fallback printer driver, auto-reconnect and new Group Policy settings.[16]
  • Files and Settings Transfer Wizard supports migrating settings from both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows XP PCs.[17]

Core

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is based on the Windows Server 2003 kernel and codebase, which is newer than 32-bit Windows XP (by about two years) and has improvements to enhance scalability.[18] It also introduces Kernel Patch Protection (also known as PatchGuard) to improve security by helping to eliminate rootkits.[19]

Disadvantages/limitations

There are some limitations which apply to Windows XP Professional x64 Edition:

Software compatibility

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition uses a technology named Windows-on-Windows 64-bit (WoW64), which permits the execution of 32-bit software. It was first used in Windows XP 64-bit Edition (for Itanium architecture). Later, it was adopted for x64 editions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

Since the x86-64 architecture includes hardware-level support for 32-bit instructions, WoW64 simply switches the process between 32- and 64-bit modes. As a result, x86-64 architecture microprocessors suffer no performance loss when executing 32-bit Windows applications. On the Itanium architecture, WoW64 was required to translate 32-bit x86 instructions into their 64-bit Itanium equivalents—which in some cases were implemented in quite different ways—so that the processor could execute them. All 32-bit processes are shown with *32 in the task manager, while 64-bit processes have no extra text present.

Although 32-bit applications can be run transparently, the mixing of the two types of code within the same process is not allowed. A 64-bit program cannot use a 32-bit dynamic-link library (DLL) and similarly a 32-bit program cannot use a 64-bit DLL. This may lead to the need for library developers to provide both 32-bit and 64-bit binary versions of their libraries. Specifically, 32-bit shell extensions for Windows Explorer fail to work with 64-bit Windows Explorer. Windows XP x64 Edition ships with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Explorer.[21] The 32-bit version can become the default Windows Shell.[25] Windows XP x64 Edition also includes both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Internet Explorer 6, so that users can still use browser extensions or ActiveX controls that are not available in 64-bit versions.

Only 64-bit drivers are supported in Windows XP x64 Edition, but 32-bit codecs are supported as long as the media player that uses them is 32-bit.[20]

Installation of programs

By default, 64-bit (x86-64) Windows programs are installed onto their own folders under C:\Program Files, while 32-bit (x86/IA-32) Windows programs are installed onto their own folders under C:\Program Files (x86).

Removed features

Some features are not included at all on Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. Most of them were inherited from Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (the version that Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is based on) which included some changes from Windows XP Service Pack 2 for x86:

Service packs

The RTM version of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition was built from the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 codebase.[5] Because Windows XP Professional x64 Edition comes from a different codebase than 32-bit Windows XP, its service packs are also developed separately.[31] For the same reason, Service Pack 2 for Windows XP x64 Edition, released on March 13, 2007, is not the same as Service Pack 2 for 32-bit versions of Windows XP.[31] In fact, due to the earlier release date of the 32-bit version, many of the key features introduced by Service Pack 2 for 32-bit (x86) editions of Windows XP were already present in the RTM version of its x64 counterpart.[5] Service Pack 2 is the last released service pack for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.

Upgrade

A machine running Windows XP Professional x64 Edition cannot be directly upgraded to Windows Vista because the 64-bit Vista DVD mistakenly recognizes XP x64 as a 32-bit system. Windows XP x64 does qualify the customer to use an upgrade copy of Windows Vista or Windows 7, however it must be installed as a clean install. Despite this, a workaround is available via third-party tools that can make upgrading from XP x64 to Windows Vista possible.[32]

The last version of Microsoft Office to be officially compatible with Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is Office 2007, however Office 2010 can be unofficially installed by disguising the Windows version using Application Verifier. The last version of Internet Explorer compatible with Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is Internet Explorer 8.

Support lifecycle

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition follows the same support lifecycles as with all other versions of Windows XP. On April 14, 2009, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition's mainstream support expired and the extended support phase began. During the extended support phase, Microsoft continued to provide security updates; however, free technical support, warranty claims, and design changes are no longer being offered.[33] Extended support lasted until April 8, 2014, in line with all other Windows XP editions.[33] After this date, no more security patches or support information are offered.

Although Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is unsupported, Microsoft released an emergency security patch in May 2017 for the OS as well as other unsupported versions of Windows (including Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows 7 RTM without a service pack), to address a vulnerability that was being leveraged by the WannaCry ransomware attack.[34][35] In May 2019, an emergency patch was released to address a critical code execution vulnerability in Remote Desktop Services which can be exploited in a similar way as the WannaCry vulnerability.[36][37]

Microsoft announced in July 2019 that the Microsoft Internet Games services on Windows XP and Windows Me would end on July 31, 2019 (and for Windows 7 on January 22, 2020).[38] Others, such as Steam, had done the same, ending support for Windows XP and Windows Vista in January 2019.[39]

In 2020, Microsoft announced that it would disable the Windows Update service for SHA-1 endpoints. Since Windows XP Professional x64 Edition did not get an update for SHA-2, Windows Update Services are no longer available on the OS as of late July 2020.[40] However, as of April 2021, the old updates for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition are still available on the Microsoft Update Catalog.[41]


References

  1. ^ a b "Microsoft Raises the Speed Limit with the Availability of 64-Bit Editions of Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Professional" (Press release). Microsoft. April 25, 2005. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  2. ^ "Description of the security update for the remote code execution vulnerability in Windows XP Professional x64 Edition SP2". Microsoft. May 14, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Microsoft Product Lifecycle: Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition". Support. Microsoft. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  4. ^ Broersma, Matthew. "The importance of being 64-bit". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "A description of the x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003 and of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition (Revision 3.8)". Support. Microsoft. October 11, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2011. The x64-based versions are based on the Windows Server 2003 code tree. Service and support activities for these versions use the Windows Server 2003 tree and do not use the Windows XP client tree.
  6. ^ Oiaga, Marius (December 14, 2007). "64-Bit Windows XP Service Pack 3? Don't think so... at least for now". Softpedia. SoftNews. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  7. ^ "Microsoft Releases Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Version 2003 to Manufacturing". News Center. Microsoft. March 28, 2003. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  8. ^ Evers, Joris (January 4, 2005). "Microsoft nixes Windows XP for Itanium". InfoWorld. IDG. Archived from the original on January 5, 2005. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  9. ^ "Microsoft Announces Beta Version of Windows XP 64-Bit Edition For 64-Bit Extended Systems". News Center. Microsoft. September 23, 2002. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  10. ^ "Processor and memory capabilities of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and of the x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003". Support. Microsoft. December 20, 2010. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  11. ^ Up to: 64 cores, 64 threads if ratio of core count and thread count is 1:1; 32 cores, 64 threads if ratio of core count and thread count is 1:2.
  12. ^ "Windows XP Disk Support: Windows and GPT FAQ". Dev Center – Hardware. Microsoft. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  13. ^ "Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition". Microsoft. May 3, 2005. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  14. ^ "Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition". TechNet. Microsoft. September 11, 2009. IPsec for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  15. ^ "General FAQs About 64-bit Windows". MSDN. Microsoft. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  16. ^ "Remote Desktop for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition". TechNet. Microsoft. September 11, 2009. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  17. ^ "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition". TechNet. Microsoft. September 11, 2009. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  18. ^ "Windows Server 2003 Kernel Scaling Improvements". Microsoft. Archived from the original on March 1, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  19. ^ "The Benefits of x64 Technology". microsoft.com. Microsoft. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  20. ^ a b c "Release Notes for Windows XP Contained in the Relnotes.htm File". Support. Microsoft. January 9, 2006. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  21. ^ a b "Some Windows Explorer extensions and some Control Panel items are not displayed on computers that are running an x64-based version of Windows". Support. Microsoft. February 4, 2008. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  22. ^ "How to run the 32-bit Explorer shell on Windows x64". Extended64.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  23. ^ "Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition". TechNet. Microsoft. September 11, 2009. Appendix B: Features Not Supported in Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  24. ^ "You cannot put a computer that has more than 4 GB of memory into hibernation in Windows XP, in Windows Server 2003, in Windows Vista, or in Windows Server 2008". Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  25. ^ Paddock, Brandon (May 22, 2005). "How to run the 32-bit Explorer shell on Windows x64". Extended64.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  26. ^ "64-bit versions of Windows do not support 16-bit components, 16-bit processes, or 16-bit applications". Support. Microsoft. September 11, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  27. ^ "The Radio Toolbar Is Unavailable in Internet Explorer 6". Support. Microsoft. January 31, 2007. Archived from the original on March 9, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  28. ^ "Media Bar". MSDN. Microsoft. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  29. ^ "You cannot connect to a Web folder from a Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP x64 computer". Support. Microsoft. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  30. ^ "Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition". TechNet. Microsoft. September 11, 2009. Outlook Express for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  31. ^ a b "Windows Server 2003 & Windows XP x64 Service Pack 2 Overview". TechNet. Microsoft. January 25, 2011. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  32. ^ colaWin. Upgrade from Windows XP to Vista,but it is in 64 bit version. YouTube. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  33. ^ a b "Microsoft Support Lifecycle". Support. Microsoft. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  34. ^ "Microsoft issues 'highly unusual' Windows XP patch to prevent massive ransomware attack". The Verge. Vox Media. May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  35. ^ "Customer Guidance for WannaCrypt attacks". Microsoft. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  36. ^ Warren, Tom (May 14, 2019). "Microsoft warns of major WannaCry-like Windows security exploit, releases XP patches". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  37. ^ "Prevent a worm by updating Remote Desktop Services (CVE-2019-0708)". MSRC Blog. May 14, 2019. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  38. ^ "Farewell to Microsoft Internet Games on Windows XP, Windows ME, and Windows 7". answers.microsoft.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2019. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  39. ^ "Windows XP and Windows Vista Support – Steam – Knowledge Base – Steam Support". support.steampowered.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  40. ^ "Windows Update SHA-1 based endpoints discontinued for older Windows devices". support.microsoft.com. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  41. ^ "Microsoft Update Catalog". www.catalog.update.microsoft.com. Retrieved April 6, 2021.

Further reading

  1. "Benefits of Microsoft Windows x64 Editions". Microsoft Corporation. February 8, 2006. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  2. Da Costa, Andre (April 25, 2006). "Microsoft Windows XP x64 Edition: Year in Review". ActiveWin.com. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  3. "List of updates in Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (Revision 15.2)". Microsoft Support. Microsoft Corporation. February 27, 2009. Retrieved January 12, 2011.