By publishing its work on a simplified version of its x86 architecture, Intel may well have announced the imminent death of 32-bit processors, which only run old games and software. The manufacturer indeed indicates that it wants to turn fully to 64 bits, widely adopted by users.
x32, x64, x86: you have surely already seen these figures pass on your PC, perhaps without really knowing what they correspond to, especially when installing new software. Simply put, x32 (32-bit) and x86 are two processor architectures, while x64 (64-bit) is an extension of Intel’s x86 architecture. The latter is also the most widespread to date in the world and, in fact, the most used by application developers.
The 32-bit architecture, on the other hand, is becoming increasingly aging. Only a few old software still run on it, making it now almost obsolete. Also, while 64-bit has been essential in our daily lives for almost 20 years, Intel finally wants to turn the page. For this, the manufacturer is working on a new architecture, called X86-S (for “simplified” x86), which will only support 64-bit programs, thus signing the death warrant for 32-bit.
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Intel will finally turn the page on 32-bit architecture
The news was on the whole predictable, Intel not being able indefinitely to devote time and resources to the production of 32-bit processors that are less and less present in PCs, all for software that is only aimed at a small niche of users. Especially since Apple has already led the way several years ago with its ARM chips.
It is therefore a new “revolution” that Intel is preparing to undertake, shortly after announcing a new nomenclature for its future processors. If they are certainly not part of the majority, the few remaining users on the 32 bits may nevertheless not appreciate the news. Indeed, this means that it will be imperative to go through a virtual machine to relaunch its old programs.
Source : Intel
