Rod,

Oh I don't doubt that would happen in time, but not anytime soon. First they have to get rid of 16 bit support. It will be many, many years before they will discontinue 32 bit compatibility mode, simply because there is so much 32 software outside there. And this is not only about consumer software, but also large enteprise systems for coorporations.

It reminds me of the early 64 bit intel processors, that did not have a 32 compatibility mode. When AMD came up with their AMD 64 processors it took intel a while to see that had choosen the wrong path and only recently have released their 32 bit compatible 64 bit processors.

And yes, VM-ware, or virtual servers will always be an alternative, though performance still has something to be desired. But of course 10 years will be enough to address this issue as well.

>How's this for a theory...
>
>At some point MSFT will say: "We are no longer supporting 16 or 32 bit apps in our core OS"
>
>If you need support for these applications here's this handy dandy Virtual Machine....
>
>But in all reality who cares?!?!??!

Well, I agree, anyone arguing that discontinueing 32 bit support (in the core OS product) in the near future (before 2017) and using that as an argument to promote one tool over another should be taken with a grain of salt.

Walter,