64-bit Computing

Control Engineering Europe - November/December 2007
by Michael Babb, Editor

Last year about this time many of us were reading reviews about Microsoft’s new Vista operating system, which was finally released to the public at the end of January, 2007.

Many of the early reviewers were clearly not excited. The software was two years overdue, they said, and it consumed much more PC resources than Windows XP. Several major innovations, such as a new file system, were dropped because they were taking too much time to develop. There were some positive comments about the new visual style, called Windows Aero, but was this enough to go out and buy the new software? You’d probably need a new PC to run it, anyway.

As we see now, Vista is really a technology-based release, with many improvements related to how the system functions and therefore more visible to software developers instead of end-users. For example, one of Microsoft’s primary objectives was to improve the state of security in the operating system, and it appears to have achieved this very well.

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‘Certified for Windows Vista™’
Vista Certification is no simple task. Previous Windows software packages will run on Vista, but to take advantage of the new system’s graphics and security features, a great deal of the code has to be re-written.

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Stunning graphics
But for those who do make the investment, the results can be visually dazzling. We attended ICONICS’ launch of GENESIS64 at the ISA Show in Houston in October and got a taste of what a full-fledged 64-bit operating system can do. You’ve seen the special effects that high-end machines from Silicon Graphics can produce for the movies - now you have that kind of computing power on your desktop.

ICONICS founder Russ Agrusa took us on a tour of a simulated oil platform in the North Sea. From several hundred metres away, we could zoom onto the platform, operate its cranes, watch oil being pumped into storage tanks, open and close valves, and even dive into the ocean to go down to the floor and troubleshoot a well head. As Mr. Agrusa twisted and turned the platform in different directions, there was not the slightest hesitation of the image. He zoomed in close enough on the compressor to read its nameplate. Then he went inside to observe its inner workings. Another mouse click brought up the maintenance manual for the compressor. There is almost no end to what detail this software can show - we have some snapshots on the side panel. Have a look.

ICONICS GENESIS64

This simulated oil platform has a supply ship docked at its side and is unloading the supplies. All the cranes move and can be operated by the user. The compressor is the tin green image at the centre left edge of the platform.

Zooming onto the deck, we get a closer view of the compressor.

Details of the compressor are now easily seen and the zooming can go on, showing close up views of any part of the machine. Complete maintenance manuals are available with a mouse click.

ICONICS Background Information

Founded in 1986, ICONICS is an award winning leader in the development of Web-enabled industrial automation and manufacturing intelligence software for Microsoft® Windows® operating systems. Our solutions are certified for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista. ICONICS has successfully deployed more than 250,000 solutions in over 60 countries worldwide. Its solutions meet diverse customer needs in a variety of industries including Automotive, Building Management, Food & Beverage, Oil/Gas/Petrochemical, Machine Builders, Pharmaceutical/Biotech, Security, Water/Wastewater, Utilities, Government Infrastructures and more.

ICONICS’ corporate headquarters is located in Foxborough, Massachusetts (USA) near Boston. The company has offices throughout the United States, as well as in Australia, China, France, India, Italy, Germany, Netherlands and United Kingdom. ICONICS also has a joint software development and sales office in the Czech Republic.

© 2010 ICONICS, Inc. All rights reserved. Specifications are subject to change without notice. GENESIS64, GENESIS32, Pocket GENESIS, BizViz and their respective modules, OPC-To-The-Core, and Visualize Your Enterprise are trademarks of ICONICS Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.