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Next Windows To Get Multicore Redesign

Posted by kdawson on from the racing-to-the-next-deadlock dept.

eldavojohn writes "A Microsoft executive announced that the next Windows will be fundamentally redesigned to handle the numerous cores of present and future processors. The article notes that the NT technology underneath Vista has been able to take advantage of multiple processors since 1993, and can now handle 32 or 64 cores. And since Microsoft completely rewrote the 20-year-old GDI/GDI+ model for Vista, what more can (or should) they parallelize? It will be interesting to see how Microsoft tackles the race conditions and deadlocks that come with pervasively multithreaded software and in the past complicated attempts (like that of BeOS) to utilize multiple CPUs. Do you think it's it a smart move to further complicate an operating system to take advantage of multiple cores, or should Microsoft stick to its knitting while applications take advantage of (possibly) more resources?"

20 of 417 comments (clear)

  1. Think of the licensing... by Bazman · · Score: 5, Funny

    They're going to aren't they? Windows Vista '09 Multicore Edition, only valid for up to 16 cores, Windows Vista '09 Multicore Extreme Edition, 16-24 cores...

    And so it goes.

    1. Re:Think of the licensing... by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Funny

      Also known as Vista ME and Vista MEE. For up to 64 cores running in a portable computing environment, you need Vista Multicore Ultimate Laptop Edition (Vista MULE). Especially useful for drug smuggling.

      --
      My blog
    2. Re:Think of the licensing... by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

      Oh c'mon, how can you drop the ball on such a perfectly shaped joke? Of course the vMULE is perfect for file smuggling, preferably music and film...

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  2. Imagine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Imagine a Beowulf cluster of multicore BSODs!

  3. The Next Windows... by ProteusQ · · Score: 1, Funny

    will be based on a BSD.

    Unless they want another failure on their hands.

  4. So... 6+ years? by andrewd18 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't wait - an OS designed through-and-through for multiple cores, and it's only six or more years away!

    1. Re:So... 6+ years? by pipatron · · Score: 4, Funny

      Whooo ooo ooosh!

      --
      c++; /* this makes c bigger but returns the old value */
    2. Re:So... 6+ years? by JFitzsimmons · · Score: 4, Funny

      Your sarcasm upgrade will be arriving in between 3 and 6 business years.

      --
      Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master. -Anonymous
  5. Finally! by VE3OGG · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have been waiting for something like this! Finally, an operating system and company that "just get it!" This redesign will restructure the world of computing just as WinFS and Monad di... oh, never mind...

    And just to get a few jokes out of the way:

    Finally! Something that will run Vista!

      -and-
    Does it come bundled with Duke Nukem Forever?

  6. 64 cores is enough for everyone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    You heard it here first.

  7. Finally! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    After years of wait, Minesweeper gets the multi-core treatment! Now I won't have to suffer those lousy frame rates.

  8. I can't be the only one ... by LordKaT · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... that read "parallelize" as "paralyze"

    1. Re:I can't be the only one ... by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Funny

      I thought the title of this article was "Next Windows to Get Mediocre Redesign."

      Tags: oldnews, vista

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  9. Re:Multi-processing in general by T-Ranger · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can see you were writing up your list there in parallel. And you have some concurrency issues, I guess, with your system to hand out labels.

  10. Next annoucement by TheMeuge · · Score: 4, Funny

    Next announcement will come about 6 months before the release date:

    This feature will not be included in the upcoming release of Windows.

  11. First things first by elronxenu · · Score: 4, Funny
    I think they should make it work on one (1) cpu first.

  12. I predict by darth_linux · · Score: 2, Funny

    the next windows to be codenamed "Linux"

    --
    Power to the Penguin!
  13. Re:When did you last use Windows? by Mdentari · · Score: 1, Funny

    I am the next guy and I hate windows more then you.

    --
    Morality, filters both ways.
  14. NOOO! by Yetihehe · · Score: 2, Funny

    So now windows will clog ALL of my processors? It's already bad when it clogs just one.

    --
    Extreme Programming - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Developers
  15. NT technology! by syrinx · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wow, Vista has NT technology! Will this new OS system support LCD displays and NIC cards too?

    (Excuse me, I need to go put my PIN number in an ATM machine.)

    --
    Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.