Microsoft's new beta version of Windows XP 64-Bit Edition (XP64) provides AMD Athlon 64 and Opteron owners a familiar OS (operating system) for exploring 64-bit computing. While the beta OS is a free download, consumer applications that take advantage of a 64-bit CPU are few and far between. Therefore, if you're an average Athlon jockey, you might want to wait until the dust settles before giving this beta a tryout. If you're curious and adventurous, here's how our test drive went. Once we installed the OS, we found that the look and feel was closer to Windows 2000/NT than its XP name suggests. The XP64 beta integrates DirectX 9.0b and appears to have most critical update patches. Windows Update functions weren't available, and it is unknown if any patches will be offered during the 360-day trial. We were pleased the default OS install had the network Messenger service disabled.

Microsoft Windows XP 64-Bit Edition