The Development of IA-64 Windows

This timeline was created since there are so many open questions about the development of IA-64 (Intel Architecture 64-Bit) Windows, what Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition/Windows Datacenter Limited Edition is and whether there was a 64-bit version of Windows 2000 or not. The information in the timeline I did not add any references for (January 1998 – March 2000), is taken from several internal Intel/Microsoft presentations held during 1999 and 2000 and some other documents I got my hands on. I added the public available documents at the end of this post [23].

Late 1996: Collaboration between Microsoft and Intel begins

• Project design and prototype
• Windows NT boots to command prompt with Intel’s compiler (see SDK)

January 1998: Design Preview

• First “Win64™” SDK released

March 1998: Win64 kernel booted

• Early version of the IA-64 simulator released

April 1998: Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC)

• First Win64 DDK and second Win64 SDK released

April 1999: WinHEC

• First demo of “Windows 64-bit” demonstrated (“WinHEC’99 Demo”)

August 1999: Itanium™ hardware boot

• First Windows 64-bit (Win64) demo running on Itanium hardware [1]

September 1999: Intel Developer Forum (IDF)

• First public Itanium processor demo, Graphics demo on Win64

October 1999: First e-Business demo

• Microsoft Internet Information (IIS) demo
• 3D rendering, Open GL

November/December 1999: Major applications running

• Oracle 8i running on Win64
• Four system cluster running supercomputing application
• NEC 16P capable system demo runs SQL server

January/February 2000: First performance highlights

• Tremendous security performance on RSA decrypts

January/February 2000: IDF

• “Cross-Dev” SDK (Build#5) for developers with early IA-64 hardware released
• Prototype build of Windows 2000 IA64 released to some ISVs, IHVs and OEMs, Windows 2000 RTM code base [5.0.2195.1]

March 2000: IDF

• Itanium processor prototype systems delivered in thousands (about 5000 in total)

July 2000: Professional Developers Conference (PDC)

• Preview release of Windows 2000 IA64 for developers and hardware manufacturers released (beta 1, “about 95 percent feature-complete”) [2] [3], Windows 2000 SP1 code base [5.0.2195.1620]

October 2000

• First public preview of Windows Whistler 64-bit released [4] [5], Windows Whistler Beta 1 code base [5.1.2296.1]

May 2001

• Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition* (ASLE) and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition announced [6]

August 2001

• Windows XP 64-bit Edition 2002 released [7], Windows XP Professional RTM code base [5.1.2600.0]
• Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition released to early adopters of Itanium hardware (preinstalled) [7], Windows Whistler Advanced Server Beta 2 code base [5.1.2462.0]

September 2001

• Windows Datacenter Limited Edition* (DSLE) announced for the first half of 2002 (NOT a 64-bit operating system**) [8] [9]

November 2001

• Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition 1.1 released (Japanese only!) [10], Windows .NET Enteprise Server Beta 3 code base [5.1.3590.0]; still available on MSDN

March 2002

• Windows Datacenter Limited Edition formally released [11] [12], Windows .NET Datacenter Server Beta code base

May 2002

• Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition 1.2 announced [13], adds support for Itanium 2 hardware

July 2002

• Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition 1.2 released [14], Windows .NET Enterprise Server RC code base [5.2.3663.0]; still available on MSDN

September 2002

• Windows XP 64-bit Edition Service Pack 1 released, Windows XP Professional SP1 code base [5.1.2600.1106]

March 2003

• Windows XP 64-bit Edition 2003 released [15], Windows Server 2003 RTM code base [5.2.3790.0]
• Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition for 64-bit Itanium 2 systems released [15]
• Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition for 64-bit Itanium 2 systems released [15]

*The Advanced Server Limited Edtition moniker is a bit misleading. Actually the ASLE releases were just previews for the final release of Windows Server 2003 IA64:

Microsoft uses the “Limited Edition” designation to roll out a new operating system — in this case Windows .NET [Enterprise/]Datacenter Server — to specific, low volume markets. Others would call this a “field test” or “early availability program.” [16]

**Datacenter Server Limited Edition was not an IA-64 version of Windows. It was nothing more than an enhanced version of Windows 2000 Datacenter Server on Windows .NET Datacenter Server Beta code base. Later, with the release of Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition IA64 there also was a Datacenter IA64 SKU.

Additionally, there was no Windows 2000 Advanced Server Limited Edition/Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Limited Edition. That name established due to the fact that ASLE 1.0 (build 2462) says Windows 2000 on system properties.

Intel Software Development Kit
Software Development Kits (SDKs) were released to firmware (FW) developers, operating system vendors (OSVs), and independend software vendors (ISVs) very early since there was no Itanium hardware available until the beginning of 2000. Because of the lack of IA-64 capable hardware Intel had to simulate the new instruction set in order to allow OSVs and ISVs to port their operating systems and applications to the Itanium architecture.

It was well understood from the beginning of the Itanium project that compiler technology was a key ingredient of the project. Therefore, the compiler design was started at the same time as the architecture definition and the chip design: in late 1994.

The key phases for the project were as follows:

• 1994 — 1997: Design
• 1996 — 1999: Development
• 1999 — 2001: Performance tuning on simulator, then on hardware

The very early SDK versions from 1996 included a simulator called Gambit. Using very early Itanium compilers, Gambit was able to simulate core functionality of Windows NT and System V UNIX (loader, OS kernel, basic OS functionality). In late 1996, nearly three years prior to the release of the first Merced samples, it was possible to boot to the NT 4.0 command prompt using the SDK. Later versions of the SDK (v0.4 – v2.0) included a Software Development Vehicle (SDV) with OS drivers and a loader to start an OS on the functional simulator under a debugger which was called SoftSDV.

• Q1, 1996 — SDK 0.1: first FW release
• Q4, 1997 — SDK 0.3: 64-bit analyzer (for ISVs to make their application 64-bit clean)
• Q2, 1998 — SDK 0.4 / Q4, 1998 — SDK 0.5: enabling of OS and FW development
• Q1, 1999 — SDK 0.6: release criteria included Intel assembler and building of NT OS 4.0
• Q3, 1999 — SDK 1.7: first release with strong emphasis on applications. Release criteria applications included 3D Studio Max (C/C+), Games and Nag F90 (Fortran)
• Q1, 2000 — SDK 2.0: last simulator-based release
• Q3, 2000 — SDK 5.0: first HW-based release, enabling large application vendors such as Ansys, Nastran, Oracle, SQL, and Mentor Graphics

For more information on the IA-64 compiler, the Intel IA-64 SDK and SoftSDV, see [17], [18], [19], [20].

Codenames
Merced — Itanium codename
Sundown (around 1998) — Win64 codename [21]
Janus (around 1999) — Windows 2000 IA64 codename [22]

References
[1] Microsoft News Center, Microsoft and Intel Announce 64-bit Windows Running on (…), August 31, 1999
[2] Microsoft News Center, Microsoft and Intel Announce Preview Release of 64-Bit Windows (…), July 12, 2000
[3] CNET News, Microsoft ready to send 64-bit Windows 2000 to developers, July 12, 2000
[4] Microsoft News Center, Microsoft Delivers First Beta Release of Next Version of (…), October 31, 2000
[5] Tweakers.net Reviews, Intel Itanium sneak preview, January 24, 2001
[6] Microsoft News Center, Microsoft Unveils Plans for 64-Bit Windows Platform, May 23, 2001
[7] Microsoft News Center, Microsoft and Industry Usher in New Era of 64-Bit Computing, August 28, 2001
[8] Microsoft News Center, Microsoft Announces Windows Datacenter Server Limited Edition, September 10, 2001
[9] Redmondmag.com, Microsoft Clarifies Datacenter LE Release Plans, September 13, 2001
[10] Microsoft PressPass, インテル(R) Itanium 2プロセッサに最適化されたMicrosoft(R) Windows(R) (…), July 9, 2002
[11] Redmondmag.com, Datacenter Server Limited Edition Released, March 5, 2002
[12] Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine Online, Windows Reclaims Top Spot in SAP (…), March 6, 2002
[13] Microsoft News Center, Microsoft Extends 64-Bit Computing Efforts With Support for (…), May 8, 2002
[14] Microsoft News Center, Windows Advanced Server, Limited Edition Version 1.2 For Intel’s (…), July 8, 2002
[15] Microsoft News Center, Microsoft Releases Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Version 2003 to (…), March 28, 2003
[16] Illuminata, The Odd Couple: Windows Meets Big Iron, January 28, 2002
[17] Intel Technology Journal, An Overview of the Intel® IA-64 Compiler, Noveber 1999
[18] Intel Technology Journal, SoftSDV: A Presilicon Software Development Environment for (…), Novermber 1999
[19] Intel Technology Journal, Porting Operating System Kernels to the IA-64 Architecture (…), Novermber 1999
[20] Intel Technology Journal, The Making of a Compiler for the Intel® Itanium™ Processor, August 2001
[21] Comes v. Microsoft, Intel Meeting: Prep for 8/17 with Andy/Craig, August 9, 1998
[22] Windows IT Pro, 64-bit Windows 2000 on track for mid-2000, July 27, 1999
[23] Additional Intel/Microsoft documents, Intel Itanium Documentation, 1998-2000

Screenshots

Windows Whistler Professional 64-bit, build 2285

Windows Whistler Professional 64-bit, build 2285

Windows Whistler Advanced Server 64-bit, build 2257

Windows Whistler Advanced Server 64-bit system properties, beta 1

Windows Whistler Advanced Server 64-bit boot screen in action, beta 1

Windows Whistler 64-bit Beta 1 MSDN download page

Windows Whistler Advanced Server 64-bit boot screen, October 2000

Windows Whistler Professional 64-bit boot screen, October 2000

Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition (1.0), July 2001