Intel and Microsoft on Tuesday released software designed to improve the performance of Windows applications designed for 32-bit processors when they are running on Intel's 64-bit Itanium 2 processors.

Several years in development, the IA-32 Execution Layer software is slated for inclusion in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, which is expected in the second half of this year. But it can now be downloaded for Window Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition, and Windows XP 64-bit Edition. Linux versions of the IA-32 EL are also expected later this year from SuSE Linux AG and Red Hat Linux.

Read more: PC World.