A description of the x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003 and of Windows XP Prof

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INTRODUCTIONThis article lists and briefly describes the x64-based versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and of Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.These versions are the following:• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter x64 Edition • Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition The x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003 and of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition support Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) AMD64 processors and Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (EM64T) processors. The underlying architecture of these operating systems is based on 64-bit extensions to the standard x86 instruction set. Therefore, you can run 32-bit and 64-bit programs on x64-processor-based computers that are running an x64-based version of Windows Server 2003 or of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.MORE INFORMATIONThe x64-based versions are based on the Windows Server 2003 code tree. Service and support activities for these versions use the Windows Server 2003 tree and do not use the Windows XP client tree. The x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003 and of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition are available through the following sources:• Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) • Microsoft Software Assurance • Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) All fixes built into Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) are included in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1). Additionally, Windows Server 2003 SP1 is the code tree segment that all Windows x64 editions are based on. Therefore, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition does not require Windows XP SP2. Because Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and the x64 editions of Windows Server 2003 have different product names but receive the same updates, some customer confusion may occur.