News
AMD Offers More 64-bit Development Tools
- By Scott Bekker
- 01/16/2001
AMD added another member to its roster of developers’
tools for its forthcoming 64-bit processor, codenamed “Hammer.” Today,
Advanced Micro Devices Corp. said that it was
partnering with
Virtutech AB to create
Virtuhammer, a Hammer emulator for Windows 2000 and Linux.
The Hammer processor will use AMD’s x86-64 instruction
set. Unlike Intel’s IA-64 instruction set, it will be completely compatible
with the x86 legacy instruction set introduced in 1978. However, Hammer will
introduce two extensions, long mode and register extensions.
AMD has offered developers a number of options to prepare
for the new instructions. It released the instruction set specifications to
developers in August, 2000 then offered x86-64 emulator called SimNow! in October.
AMD later partnered with Transmeta Corp.
to ship test machines with Transmeta’s code-morphing “Crusoe” processor.
Today’s
announcement is a similar development. Virtutech, a developer of virtual
machines and emulators, will create a high-performance Hammer simulator, so
developers can test code for the Hammer processor before it is released. AMD
says Hammer will hit the market in the first half of 2002. – Christopher McConnell
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.