Microsoft-Intel hypethreading confusion continues

INTEL AND MICROSOFT do not appear to have come to an amicable agreement on the number of Xeon processors reported by operating systems, it would appear from some information at the Compaq site.

Last year we reported that the two firms were in negotiations on how best to implement hyperthreading, given that Microsoft operating systems get confused by the number of processors when Intel's cunning scheme is implemented.

The page on the Compaq site, headed a customer advisory, reports that when hyperthreading is implemented on XP Pro, it reports four CPUs are present on a machine, while it only reports two CPUs available using Windows 2000 and NT 4.

Nevertheless, the same page reports that hyperthreading is not available on NT 4, a statement that implies it does work on Windows 2000 though only reporting two processors are present.

By default, Compaq has disabled hyperthreading on both the Evo W6000 and the W8000.

So it would seem that Intel and Microsoft had better sort out this little maladjustment, so that all of us everywhere know exactly where we stand.

You can find the Compaq page here. µ

See Also
Intel, Microsoft headed for hyperthreaded bust up
Intel reveals hyperthreading rules
Kicking Pat talks P4 hyperthreading