Intel expects to activate security features and 64-bit extensions within the Prescott core when it ships PC and server processors based on Prescott and the Grantsdale chipset in the second half of the year, Intel President and Chief Operating Officer Paul Otellini said during Intel's spring analyst meeting in New York this week.
Prescott supports the NX (no execute) feature that will prevent worms and viruses from executing dangerous code through the exploitation of buffer overflows, Otellini said during a Webcast of the event. Advanced Micro Devices' Athlon 64 and Opteron processors also come with this feature, which requires software support from the Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2, expected later this year.
Read more: PC World.