KeithDust2000, thanks for the additional Win64 references. I am not optimistic - six months ahead, schedules rarely get pulled in and often get slipped out.
I have more confidence about the Athlon64 release. For computers purchased in December you need the processors released in October and shipping in quantity in November. Since AMD is aiming at a September release, a last minute problem that slips the schedule 4 weeks is very tolerable.
Now, Microsoft is saying that 64-bit SP1 should be here this year. It needs to be distributed to the system builders by mid-November. It takes a week for them to make master copies of the installation for sector copying onto the new machines. Then they can be available for shipments in the last week of November for holiday sales. "End of year" misses this window.
What happens then? Ship the machines with 32-bit Windows and enclose a coupon for 64-bit?
The enthusiast market will purchase Athlon64 machines and put Linux or Windows64 (or both, dual booted) on it themselves. Not a problem for this market. However, it is a big problem for the buyers who want to purchase a 64-bit machine for their children to have bragging rights on Christmas morning.
Really, there are three markets for Hammer this year: Enthusiasts, servers and game machines. Servers need to be qualified in test labs, the sales won't be big here until 2004. There are a limited number of enthusiasts. The big market for 2003 is games, if Windows arrives in time.
It will make a huge difference for Q4!
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