EXCLUSIVE: Windows 8 and Windows 9 Kernels to Support 128-bit Architecture?

There was a time when Microsoft’s focus with the Windows 7 release was to support 64-bit only. Now, that focus has been pushed forward to Windows 8. Whether or not the Windows 8 release will see support for 64-bit only is yet to be determined, but I’ve stumbled upon a rather eye-opening Microsoft Research project: 128-bit architecture compatibility with the Windows 8 and Windows 9 kernel.

Naturally, 128-bit is the next step up from 64-bit and though it had to happen at some point, I’m surprised to see this surface so soon (and when I say, “surface,” I mean, “go public”). Robert Morgan, Senior Research and Development at Microsoft, has posted the following bit of experience on his LinkedIn profile:

Experience
Senior Research & Development
Microsoft
Public Company; MSFT; Computer Software industry

January 2002 – Present (7 years 10 months)

Working in high security department for research and development involving strategic planning for medium and longterm projects. Research & Development projects including 128bit architecture compatibility with the Windows 8 kernel and Windows 9 project plan. Forming relationships with major partners: Intel, AMD, HP and IBM.

 So, not only is Microsoft Research on top of this, but it appears they are forming relationships with some heavy-hitters, namely Intel, AMD, HP and IBM. If you notice Robert’s status, it says, “[s]omeone didn’t set the test for the new AMD 128bit properly.” Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen mention of Windows 9 (see here and here). With all of that in mind, it appears as though Windows 8 and Windows 9 are shaping up to be fairly major releases in their own regards. With Windows 7 being considered a major release, it will be interesting to see if Microsoft stays on-track with their major/minor roadmap.

Just in case it gets removed (and I’m sure it will), here is a screenshot of the profile:

UPDATE 1: Here is an interesting article discussing an AMD 128-bit CPU: AMD’s next-gen Bulldozer is a 128-bit crunching monster (Thanks to @stroughtonsmith for the link!)

UPDATE 2: After searching around for 128-bit in regards to Windows, a user on a Windows forum apparently ran across Robert Morgan’s profile and posted it on 9/24. Fortunately for us, it seems Mr. Morgan likes to talk about his work through his status; one of which read as follows

“Robert Morgan is working to get IA-128 working backwards with full binary compatibility on the existing IA-64 instructions in the hardware simulation to work for Windows 8 and definitely Windows 9.”

 Alright! IA-128! The plot thickens…

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