Intel's next generation Xeon processor and future versions of the Prescott Pentium 4 processors will come with 64-bit extensions technology.
The announcement was made by Intel CEO, Craig Barrett, during his keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco.
Barrett demonstrated the technology on a Dell Dimension XPS workstation with the forthcoming Xeon processors.
Attendees were shown a demonstration of 32-bit and 64-bit airplane design applications running on a single system.
Intel joins AMD in releasing a processor with 64-bit extensions technology, which has attracted the interest of major server vendors such as IBM and Sun Microsystems.
Intel's 64-bit extension technology would be software compatible with AMD's 64-bit extension technology, Barrett said.
There would be a few architectural differences that wouldn't affect application compatibility, he said.
The first Intel chip to take advantage of the 64-bit extensions technology will be one code-named Nocona, the next generation of the Xeon DP processors for workstations and low-end servers.
Nocona is scheduled for release in the second quarter.
Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 for 64-bit Extended Systems will support Nocona, said Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer.
Future versions of both the Prescott processor and the Xeon MP processor will also include this technology.