Opinion: While 64-bit Windows is taking its first baby steps, 64-bit Linux has been running in the enterprise for years. To which would you rather entrust your business?

In Bill Gates’ WinHEC opening keynote address, he talked about the third decade—the 64-bit decade—of Windows computing and the problems it faces with a lack of software and 64-bit drivers. What I want to know is why anyone who wants a 64-bit operating system today is bothering with Windows in the first place, when 64-bit Linux has been around for ages?

The usual excuses for wanting Windows—familiar applications and better device-driver support—don’t hold water this time. There are more native 64-bit Linux programs than there are Windows programs, and 64-bit drivers for the two operating systems are running neck-to-neck.

Heck, Linux has been running on 64 bits since the summer of 1994, when Linus Torvalds ported Linux to the Alpha chip.

Don’t think for one second that 64-bit Linux is some kind of stunt, like the recent porting of Linux to the Nintendo DS portable game device. 64-bit Linux has been running on the AMD Athlon 64 and Opteron, IBM POWER, and Intel EM64T (Extended Memory 64 Technology) and Itanium families for years.

For that matter, you can even run 64-bit Yellow Dog Linux on your Apple G5 Power Mac instead of Tiger.

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