64-bit
<architecture> A term describing a computer architecture based around an
ALU, registers and
data bus which are 64
bits wide.
64-bit processors were quite common in 1996, e.g.
Digital Alpha, versions of
Sun SPARC,
MIPS,
IBM AS/4000. the
PowerPC and Intel were expected to move to 64 bits at their next generation - PPC 620 and Intel P7.
A 64-bit
address bus allows the processor to address 18 million gigabytes as opposed to the mere 4 gigabytes allowed with 32 bits.
There were in 1996 already hard disks which can hold over 4GB.
Floating point calculations can also be more accurate.
A 64-bit
OS is needed as well to take advantage of the CPU. In 1996 there were only a few 64-bit operating systems, including OS/400,
Digital Unix,
Solaris (partialy).
A 32-bit OS can run on a 64-bit CPU.
