The 64-bit version of Microsoft Corp’s Windows NT should be finished around the same time as Cairo is due to hit the streets, at the end of 1997 or the beginning of 1998 (CI No 2,926). The work is a joint development between DEC and Microsoft and follows in the tracks of a feasibility project undertaken by a team of engineers drawn from DEC’s advanced development unit which completed enough of the job to prove to Redmond that a 64-bit cut of the 32-bit operating system is viable. DEC will pay only its share of the development costs, not the full amount of a purse at one time reported to be in the tens of millions of dollars. DEC insiders claim a combination of customer and ISV pressure finally tipped Microsoft’s hand; the decision is also seen by some as a way for Redmond to meet the challenge being posed by Hewlett- Packard Co and Santa Cruz Operation Inc’s 64-bit Unix initiative.
