Colin Barnhorst wrote:
What keeps getting missed is the reason why a functionality to extend
past the 4GB limit is not available to Windows clients like XP so that
us technology enthusiasts can romp and play in Big Memory Land.

Dennis is saying it could be done and that is true. He is saying
therefore MS chose not to enable it in Windows clients and faults them
for not doing so. That's where I disagree. My take on that point is
that MS concluded that PAE is not the solution they wanted to present to
Windows client users because moving on to 64bit Windows clients was the
more robust solution by far.

There isn't much beyond this point that is getting anywhere in this
thread. The technical woulda, coulda, shoulda stuff really misses the
point of why MS didn't bother to use PAE to address the 4GB limitations
in 32bit Windows clients.

Providing 64bit operating systems is a far better resolution of the
issue than a workaround for 32bit. For that I applaud MS, not fault them.

Nobody is saying that a 64bit OS is not the best solution. It is, also
because the virtual address space is so much bigger than in 32bit. Even
though, most applications are till 32bit and confided to a 4GB address
space when executed in a 64bit environment.

Where we disagree is when you say it is not mathematically possible, and
therefore not a choice Microsoft made. The bits are there, but because
of driver problems, they choose not to use them (this is the reason they
give in their KBs).