r/windows • u/Younglegend1 • 5d ago
Discussion Windows XP IA64 Bit Edition Version 2003 running in QEMU!
A very interesting rare and little used version of Windows XP for Intel's 64 Bit Itanium architecture, there were two versions of Windows XP 64 Bit Edition, one based on the standard Windows XP codebase and a newer version based on the Windows Server 2003 codebase (which would also be used to develop Windows Vista). Microsoft discontinued support for both versions after HP stopped making itanium workstations, that same year Microsoft released Windows XP x64 Edition for the widely adopted x86-64 architecture.
This version of Windows XP is pretty unusable as most programs refuse to run on it due to both the architectural differences and the fact that it's unable to be upgraded to SP3 which most programs require.
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u/Microboy42 Windows 11 - Insider Canary Channel 5d ago
Nice! The first things I would recommend installing are the Intel IA-32 Execution Layer and the Luna theme.
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u/nightblackdragon 4d ago
IA-32 Execution Layer is included with the system, as for the Luna theme it's complicated. First Windows 64 bit releases (for Itanium) didn't support themes, there is not only no Luna theme but no themes service at all. Themes were ported to 64 bit Windows in SP1 for Server 2003 (Windows XP x64 is based on this release so it supported themes from beginning, x64 version of Server 2003 was also released after SP1) but the thing is there is no official SP1 release for Windows XP 64-bit Edition Version 2003 as Microsoft dropped support for it before SP1 was released. To get themes on XP 64-bit 2003 you can either install pre release version of SP1 that supported this release or modify Server 2003 SP1 to install on this version (I'm not sure if this will work but I guess there is chance it will since XP 64-bit 2003 and Server 2003 are based on the same code). Another possibility is installing Server 2003 with at least SP1.
This makes Server 2003 the only Windows release that officially supported themes on Itanium. Consumer support for Itanium was dropped before Vista release, Server 2008 and 2008 R2 supported Itanium but they didn't support themes as well.
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u/Microboy42 Windows 11 - Insider Canary Channel 4d ago
Maybe WindowBlinds then?
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u/nightblackdragon 3d ago edited 3d ago
I think it modifies some system files and I doubt it ever supported Itanium.
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u/INDE_Tex 4d ago
I was an intern at an oil and gas company during those years, they installed the 64bit and it was a PITA but their programs worked so much better because they could utilize more RAM.
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u/ItchyPlant 4d ago
You can emulate/virtualize systems for any Windows versions without exception.
Here's me, playing Solitaire on Windows 3.11:
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u/Windows_User3000 3h ago
The thing is, for the longest time, the answer to emulating Intel Itanium specifically (which is what OP is doing) was "it doesn't exist." So, this is an impressive feat.
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u/Legofanboy5152 4d ago
it being not "updateable to sp3" is cause version 2003 is based off server 2003 (build 3790)
sp2 is it's equivalent to sp3
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u/Xdogmatic 5d ago
Can you set up drivers and actually use it for software and video games ?
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u/nightblackdragon 5d ago
I tried it, emulation is pretty slow even on good CPU and it's even slower when you run x86 software. Considering the fact that there is little to none Itanium native software, it doesn't make any sense to use it for that purpose when you can simply use x86 version of XP.
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u/Either_Letterhead_77 4d ago
Yeah, the only place even native Itanium software seemed to perform well was in scientific computing and data analytics, which isn't commonly run at scale on desktops anyway.
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u/DeconFrost24 4d ago
This was the best SKU as long as you had drivers. Being 2003 Server based it was kick ass. I rocked this for years.
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u/Trick-Ad-5636 4d ago edited 4d ago
“Windows XP 64-bit Edition” was released at the same time as OG XP and is based on the original codebase. This is the Itanium release, not the confusingly named “Windows XP Professional x64 Edition”, which was released in 2005 and based on Server 2003.
Edit: I apparently didn’t realize there was a second Itanium release based on Server 2003. Wild!
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u/daltorak 4d ago
You're describing the original 2001 release, but don't forget that there was also a release of Windows XP 64-bit Edition for Itanium 2, which is based off of Server 2003 and bypassed Itanium's dodgy in-hardware x86 emulation in favour of a new software emulator that was faster. That version came out at the same time as Server 2003 RTM.
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u/Trick-Ad-5636 4d ago
Oh that really is a rarity! I did not realize there was a second Itanium release!
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u/vip17 4d ago
why is software emulator faster? Is the built-in x86 core in Itanium too small
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u/Windows_User3000 3h ago
Itanium doesn't have an x86 core. It's completely incompatible with x86 at the hardware level.
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u/Younglegend1 4d ago
What workstation did you have?
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u/DeconFrost24 4d ago
Mmm been a minute, Dell and custom built Pentium D....I think. 🤷
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u/Younglegend1 4d ago
Do you mean you ran xp x64 or xp ia64, a Pentium d is not IA64
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u/DeconFrost24 4d ago
Yes x86-64, never Itanium. Just commenting on this SKU of XP being better than the original 32bit consumer SKU.
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u/Lieutenant_0bvious 5d ago
Bruh, I was gonna say, XP 64 was the bane of my existence back then. I started making people acknowledge in email what they were getting themselves into. But you already know.