Microsoft offers 32-bits free as consolation for delays

Customers who buy a 64-bit server with 32-bit Windows Server OS can upgrade free to 64-Bit Windows when it arrives, says Microsoft

Although server customers may have to wait a little longer for a version of Windows that supports their 64-bit systems, they won't have to pay for an upgrade when the software does ship.

Microsoft said on Friday that customers that buy a 64-bit Opteron or Xeon server and pay for a licence to Windows Server 2003 will be able to exchange that license for one that covers the 64-bit edition when it ships next year. Earlier this week, Microsoft announced it was pushing out the launch of that product until next year, the latest in a series of delays for the 64-bit edition.

So-called x64 chips -- 64-bit processors that build on the existing x86 instruction set -- have been on the market since April 2003, when AMD introduced its first Opteron. Some analysts had expected that Microsoft would have a 64-bit version of Windows out by the end of 2003, and the company itself first promised the software would make its debut in the first part of this year. It pushed that date back to the end of this year before the latest delay.