I need to download .NET Framework 2.0.50727 to run SyncToys v1.4 but
am given three choices, namely : x86 version, x64 version and xIA64
version. Can someone tell me which one I need please? I have Win XP
Home.

Many thanks
Kate

x86 version

"Kate" <@*slamaspam*.demon.co.uk> wrote

Thank you very much. I would like to learn a bit more, for example,
why "x86" for 32 bit? 86 = 32? Seems rather cryptic to me. Can you
suggest a website for further information, please?

Thanks again
Kate

"Jerry" <ChiefZekeNoSpam (AT) MSN (DOT) com> wrote

The original 32-bit Intel CPU used in PCs was the 80386, which was
followed by the 80486 and Pentium (sometimes called the 586). The
architecture used in the 80386 and later 32-bit CPUs (including the
AMD versions) is often referred to as x86.

CPUs that build on the x86 architecture but support 64 bit data are
referred to as x64.

A separate 64-bit Intel CPU architecture is used by the Itanium chips,
called xIA64.

Wikipedia has a lot of info on all of these.

On Fri, 7 Dec 2007 21:14:28 -0000, "Kate" <@*slamaspam*.demon.co.uk>
wrote:

That explains the "x86", but I`m even more intrigued now. Was the
number 80386 chosen at random, or does it have some significance?
After all, it`s not divisible by 32. I can see I shall have to have a
search of Wikipedia. Thanks for putting me on the trail :-)

Kate

"Jack Jackson" <jacknospam (AT) pebbleridge (DOT) com> wrote

On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:58:37 -0800, Kate <@*slamaspam*.demon.co.uk> wrote:

Wikipedia may elaborate for you. I think this article is a decent
starting point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8086

Jack's explanation isn't really complete, as the 32-bit-ness of the CPU is
irrelevant to the actual origin of x86. The "original" x86 CPU was the
8086, a 16-bit CPU. The original IBM PC used the 8088, an 8-bit version
of the 8086 (well, it had an 8-bit data bus, anyway). "x86" is used to
describe the entire line of CPUs that evolved from that beginning, and/or
the instruction set (e.g. AMD, Cyrix x86-compatible CPUs).

In other words, x86 isn't used to refer to 32-bit. It's used to refer to
an entire class of CPUs and their instruction sets. The marketing
genuises have simply complicated the issue by using x64 to refer to the
64-bit iteration of the x86 line. This has led to a sort of retro-active
re-definition of x86 as meaning 32-bit, but that's not really what it
means.

Kind of dumb, IMHO, but then I find most marketing kind of dumb (including
the term ".NET" ).

Pete

The initial Intel CPU with a 16-bit bus was the 8086, then came the
80186, 80286, 80386, 80486 and the Pentium, which was sometimes called
the 80586. So essentially the number before the 86 is just a version
number.

On Fri, 7 Dec 2007 22:58:37 -0000, "Kate" <@*slamaspam*.demon.co.uk>
wrote:

Thank you Jack and Peter for the extra info. I am still going to
follow up the Wikipedia article, but now that I know the numbers
before the 86 have no esoteric significance, I shall not waste time
trying to find out.

Kate

"Jack Jackson" <jacknospam (AT) pebbleridge (DOT) com> wrote

"Kate" <@*slamaspam*.demon.co.uk> wrote